It's peaceful

The boys begged to go to the creek

It's behind my Aunts house

It's peaceful

So why not

I could sit out here ALL DAY

The boys enjoy walking through the water

Looking for frogs

       They found one

He even sings



I enjoyed looking at these-

I really could sit out there ALL DAY

 

 

 

Green Thumb

I'm pretty sure everyone in my family has a green thumb, except me

My mom has had a garden for as long as I can remember

Now that my mom has little helpers (my boys) she plants things JUST for them

They plant potatoes and carrots just so they can dig them up

She aslo plants her usual-

Cucumbers

Onions

Green Beans

Strawberries

Tomatoes

Rhubarb

She also plants zenias, BEAUTIFUL zenias

I have a vase of these sitting on the breakfast bar

They really brighten up a room

I always find something new at Mom's

This week I found these-

They were gorgeous and enormous

My mom struggles to keep them alive every year

She puts netting over them to keep the rabbits out

Once they are ready to bloom, she uncovers them and Ta Da....

Back to the green thumbs in the family

My cousin bought a new house this spring and guess what she has-

She let us try out the produce while she's riding Ragbrai this week

THANK YOU Gretchen!

I guess it's a good thing I don't have green thumb
I don't even have a place I could put a garden if I wanted to

 

I'll just stick to my

 flowers and coleus

I'm still jealous
but so happy my family is willing to share

TIME OUT

No, it wasn't for my kids

THIS MAMA NEEDED A TIME OUT

Yesterday was a very tough day

I thought back to our 2 very long deployments and thought

YOU CAN DO THIS

The hubby has been gone since July 6th

The great news is- He will be home today

I just needed 2 minutes to take a deep breath

So, I put both of the boys in their rooms

I told them they were not allowed out,  UNLESS

The house was on fire

Someone was bleeding

or

Someone was dying

Guess what, they didn't even make it 30 seconds

I was in the bathroom going potty and in walks a child

My husband was right; I should have learned by now to lock the door

It was just one of those days-

 Bickering

Spilled milk

Selective hearing

More bickering

Broken car window

Arguments

I decided I needed another time out-

The boys played blocks and I checked out pinterest

Here is what I found-

Thank you Jessika Hepburn

This was just what I needed

It's HOT

Here are the temps for the week-96, 98, 95...

I won't even mention what the heat index will be

We will be spending a lot of time in the pool

Monday-

Monday Night- 

This was a HUGE hit and it was relatively inexpensive fun- $13 at Blaines

The slip and slide is rather short but it's wet

and that's all that matters when it's 100 degrees

Tuesday-

Tuesday night (we nearly died)-

I couldn't convince this boy that it was too HOT to wear pants

He wanted to slide

Today-

This was our drink of choice today (Yummy)

We stayed as cool as we could

Thank goodness for a pool and a slip and slide

I'm watching the news as I type-

Gradually "cooling"

Thursday storms

I sure hope they are right

My boys want one of these.....

My sweet sweet Aunt called last week and told me she has new kitties

She and my Uncle live on a farm
 and it's a good thing because they are both animal lovers

They have 3 outside dogs, 1 inside dog and lots of cats which includes one of ours

In a two week period, my Aunt has taken in 1 mama and 7 babies

It's a good thing my Uncle loves these as much as she does

If I brought that many home, I would have to find a new home for myself

 I surprised the boys and took them to the farm to see these-

 These wee ones couldn't ask for a better mama

 (The babies are a week old)

All of the cats on the farm are older so the boys were thrilled to see these

We let mama nurse and went to see who else we could find-

 

                                                                 

           

Abbie is on the left. We miss her dearly but we're glad we can visit her at the farm

The kitty that Parker has fallen for is, Socks. They are inseparable! 

Is it because he looks like Abbie (I always loved that heart on her chest)

 Is it because Socks was born without a tail

 Maybe it's because they both have eyes that will make you melt

Spencer has a favorite too-

    He loves loves loves this cat

I would have to say Tulip loves him just as much

I don't have a favorite, I LOVE them ALL- (Here are just a few)

                         

Pumpkin



Smore



Socks

Check in next week to see how the wee ones are growing

and to see some more of my favorites

Niabi Zoo (Happy Birthday Sophie and Babe)

The boys and I went to Niabi Zoo yesterday for a Cub Scout event

I'll be honest, I DID NOT want to go!

We had just been to the zoo a month ago

I had a million things at home I could have been working on

We have all been a little grumpy the last couple of days
and it was going to be HOT

But we went and I'm so glad we did

The zoo was celebrating Sophie and Babe's birthdays

The zoo is SO LUCKY to have these elephants

I was fascinated by them and wanted to know more, so I asked-

Sophie is the smaller of the 2. She's the oldest (41) and she has little tusks

Babe is bigger. She's the youngest (36). She has stars on her rump and she loves to paint

Check this out!

Here is some of her art work-

 The art work was auctioned off to raise money for the girls new home

Hy-Vee donated the girls birthday cakes

 Aren't they adorable?

Thank you for sharing your cake Sophie and Babe

As a little girl, I remember my Dad taking us to the zoo on his day off
I couldn't wait to see Kathy Sh-boom

I hope my boys always remember their trips to the zoo

Here are a few other pictures-

Parker had his face painted like a lion to go with his lions mane

(I think it's time for a haircut)

Spencer loved this goat

Who really wants to jump in a bounce house in mid July and get sweaty
These guys!

It was a warm one but I'm so glad we spent the day at the zoo

Fantabulous Flip Flops

As most of you know I LOVE blogs

 Mostly DIY decorating blogs because I have to steal someone elses creativity

We have a BIG event going on at our church this weekend, it's the

Pay It Back (Trivia night) Fundraiser 
for the Miracle's Can Happen Boys Ranch in Wilton, Iowa

I got asked to be on a team (What were they thinking?)

 I hesitated but knew this was for a good cause so I'll be joining them

They are also having a silent auction and have been asking for donations

So, I decided to get crafty and check out some of the blogs I follow-

Here is what I decided on

 I almost can't part with them and may end up buying them back
If I buy them, I'll have to give myself another pedi with my RED polish

These were not nearly as easy to make as lifemadelovely-blog.com made them look

Thank you for the idea Heather!

I also made these

I can't think of any girl that wouldn't love big flowers on her sparkly flip flops

The hardest part of this DIY was finding flip flops

I checked out Wal-Mart's selection, only to find size XL

I finally found some at Walgreen's for 50% off (SCORE)

Next year I'll be stocking up on flip flops in April

Winning isn't everything

We played our first tournament game last night

This guy got to do a little catching

The boys got a little break due to some weather issues

Then the sun came out and they were ready to play again

They didn't win but they had fun and they played with their hearts

During our drive home last night we had a talk about winning:

Winning isn't everything!

It's ok to lose but it's not ok to lose and be a sore loser

We have played many teams this year and I have noticed

this must be the age that boys become very competitive:

I have seen bats thrown
I have heard boys talking back to the ump

I have seen boys crying

I have heard things come out of kids mouths, that nearly make me fall to my knees

So far, my boys have been pretty good sports. Sure they would love to win every game but that's not being realistic. Their dad and I just want them to have fun and try their best

I'll be the first to admit that there are calls I don't like

and rules that I think are ridiculous but it is what it is!

They had fun, they made new friends and they grew as a team

 Isn't that what sports are about?

While I'm sad that our Kent Stein days are done for the year

we still have our "little buddy" playing ball

Parker has had a great year at t-ball even though he tried

 to convince us that he needed to play baseball NOT t-ball.

He's had lots of great hits
 (even though he would prefer to throw the t-ball stand than hit off of it)

His coaches have nicknamed him SPEEDY. His legs may be short but that boy can RUN

Parker asked me after his first game if his team won.
I told him they didn't keep track of score in t-ball

They are ALL winners!