Rose of Sharon

All right - thanks to Meg, we have figured out what this bushy thing is. It appears that we have a hibiscus in our backyard. After looking at the website that Meg gave me and following a few links, it looks like this particular hibiscus is a Rose of Sharon. Based on the information I read, ours is quite large. How about that - we do absolutely nothing to this plant and it thrives. We try and take good care of our vegetable garden and everything dies! Apparently, plants at our house need us (or more specifically -me) to give them a wide berth in order to survive. At least that will make my yard-tending chores easier. :)

Pretty Purple Blooms

We have a tree in our backyard that blooms for about one month each year. We have absolutely no idea what type of tree it is, but it does have some very pretty purple blooms and it is covered in them when it does bloom. As you can see, there are so many blooms they pull the branches all the way down to the ground. (If anyone knows what type of tree it is, let us know!) I took some pictures of the kids by the tree and thought I would share them.

I wanted to try and get a few pictures of all of them together by the tree, but one of them was not really in the mood for pictures, as you can see.

You want me to smile?

This is really no fun at all, Mom.

Aaargh!

How much longer do I have to put up with this?

So much drama!

Swim Lessons

During the month of June, Troy, Trent, and Paige have been taking swimming lessons at one of the local university's pool. They loved being in the water every day. In the beginning, Troy and Trent liked being in the pool, but really couldn't do too much if they couldn't touch the bottom. Paige wouldn't even get her face in the water. Today was the last day of class and things have definitely changed since day #1. Troy can now swim the entire length of the pool (75 feet), Trent can make it halfway, and Paige was brave enough to venture into the deep end with Teacher Sherry. They have all come a long way! Reese is looking forward to joining them in lessons next year, but this year she had to be satisfied with getting in the pool with Mommy on the other side of the pool from the lessons. As long as she got to get wet she was happy, but I had to keep my eye on her! She is not afraid of the water.

This is as far under as I'm going, Mom!

I want to get my feets wet!

Aren't goggles cool?

Now I'm going to have to do better about finding places for them to swim besides our little pool in the backyard so that they don't lose what they have learned!

Garden Growing Pains

Back in May, I had the bright idea of trying to plant a vegetable garden in our back yard. I've wanted to try it for a long time and figured the kids would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I did not seriously take into consideration my brown thumb. So...I've killed several plants in my lifetime and the only reason I have 2 houseplants is because Jim takes care of them - surely that doesn't mean that I can't have a semi-productive vegetable garden. Well, apparently it does. :)

Everything started out well. Our friend Meg came over to help us get started since she knows way more about this stuff than I do. We cleared a bunch of overgrown stuff in our back yard that needed to go and got everything ready to plant some plants. The kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed getting their hands in the dirt.

All four of the kids helped carry away rocks and weeds to get our garden area ready. One of their favorite things was using the little wheelbarrow and all the fun garden tools. A little hard work sure can be fun!

At this point everything was looking good. We did a good job of preparing the soil, we picked out a nice variety of healthy plants, and got them all planted and well situated. Don't they all look so nice? We even put a ground cloth down to help keep weeds out. I had such high hopes.

This is when it all started to go south. Of course, it doesn't help that the plants we picked will normally fare well in our part of the country. Why does this not help, you ask? Well - this year has been unusually wet. In fact, for the first 6 months of this year we have received almost twice as much rain as normal, most of it coming in the two months since we planted our garden! After several weeks of steady rainfall we had some regular West Texas scorcher days followed by some thunderstorms that brought pea-sized hail - apparently over just our neighborhood. The hail was not large enough or last long enough to do any real damage other than flatten the plants that had survived all the wet weather. After that, we had four little strawberry plants left. We went out to look at them today and guess what! There are actually strawberries out there! They are not real big and there were only three, but it was something! Yay - maybe I don't have a total brown thumb.

Hopefully, we will get a few strawberries out of our four little survivors. If nothing else, the kids have had fun and have learned quite a bit in the process. So has their mommy - primarily that I don't need to go into the gardening business. Oh well - there is always next year!

Happy Father's Day!

There are 3 very special fathers that I want to wish a happy father's day to. First, my dad, David, aka Papa. I have always been somewhat of a daddy's girl and some things never change. I have the best dad in the world. I always knew that no matter what I would be loved and encouraged by my dad. He showed me how to live a Christian, principled life and for that I am eternally grateful. I have some wonderful memories of growing up with dad from playing catch in the backyard ("Throw it one more time, Dad!") to attending numerous ACU basketball games and track meets. He also made sure I knew my current events and geography (I still do), as well as bible verses and anything else he thought was important (like finances, budgets, how to balance a checkbook, how to ride a bike, etc.) Most of these things have come in handy in my adult life - especially how to correctly throw a ball since I now have two sons who love to play catch and two daughters who love to try (give them another year or two). Riding a bike really proved to be useful, too. :) Anyway, I had a terrific childhood and a lot of that was due to my dad's unconditional love. I love you, Dad!

Second is my father-in-law, Paul, aka Papa Paul (say that 5 times fast). You are a terrific father-in-law. I really couldn't ask for a better one. I'll never forget the first time I met you. I had a really hard time understanding what you were saying! I wasn't real used to Maine accents back then. :) Thanks for raising such a great son. Most of what he does as a dad he learned from you and I appreciate it! Some of Jim's fondest memories growing up are of times you and he spent together and he is trying to do that with his own children now. I love you, Paul!

Last is my husband, Jim. Our marriage is going on 12 years now and we've been blessed with 4 wonderful children. (Remember when you weren't sure if you wanted any? My, how things have changed.) Jim, you are a fantastic husband and great father. God truly blessed me when he brought you into my life. Thanks for following where God leads you, for always supporting and encouraging me, and for loving and showing that love to your children. I know that Troy, Trent, Paige, and Reese love their daddy with all their hearts. I am always amazed at how patient you are with them and how willing you always are to have them join you in whatever you are doing. You are an awesome dad! I love you lots and lots.

To the three great fathers in my life - Happy Father's Day! I love you all.

Jim chose to go to Chili's for his Father's Day lunch so here we are waiting for our table. We'll try and grill out tonight which is what he really wanted, but the rain hampered that plan.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Children can say some funny things. I just want to share a funny and a sweet thing that two of mine recently uttered.

The other day, Trent, my 5 year old, was sitting by me reading when he stopped and asked me, "Mom, how old are you?"

"Thirty-three," I answered.

After a brief pause, Trent asked, "Mom, how old is Dad?"

"Thirty-eight," I replied.

After another brief pause, Trent asked his final question. "Mom, do you know any other really old people?"



Recently, we have had way more rain in our part of the state than normal. With it have come some decent thunderstorms. During one early morning thunderstorm there was a loud clap of thunder that woke up the girls. They came out to the living room looking for me. I reassured them and then sent them back to their beds since it was too early for them to be up yet. As they were walking away I heard Paige, my 4 year old, bend down and tell Reese, my 2 year old, "Don't be scared, Reese. God is always with us."

A Mommy Moment

I had a mommy moment the other day. It was one of those moments when you realize your baby is growing up. It was Memorial Day so Jim was home. He was out working in the garage and I was in the kitchen trying to think of something to make for lunch. The kids were riding their bicycles all over the yard. All of a sudden, Troy came running in really excited and blurted out, "Mom, can I go ride my bike in the cul-de-sac?" We live on one of the busier corners of our neighborhood, but the street behind us is a somewhat quiet cul-de-sac. It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I couldn't go down there with him right now when I thought to myself, "You know, Kelly, you were riding down to friends' houses by yourself at his age." Now, granted, there are things that I was doing by myself at his age that I won't let him do yet simply because we live in a different world now, but when Troy asked that question I realized that my baby, my firstborn, was growing up. He was ready for and needed some more independence. I knew I needed to answer him, but was having a hard time with it. So...I took the easy way out and told him to ask his father. I waited a few minutes and then went out into the garage knowing full well what Jim would have said. Sure enough, when I asked where the boys were, Jim answered, "riding in the cul-de-sac."

It was such a strange feeling to know that they were riding by themselves out of our sight. And, yet, it was a good feeling, too, to know that my babies were ready for some more independence. We, as parents, train them to be more independent, yet it can be awfully hard to give them that independence when the time is right. Thankfully, I have a husband who has an easier time at it than I do. Maybe it's a guy/girl thing. :) Or, maybe it's a little too easy for my husband. Shortly after hearing that the boys were riding by themselves I asked where Paige was. Jim answered, "riding in the cul-de-sac." My 4 year old daughter was riding by herself (well - with her brothers) where we couldn't see her! Instead of freaking out, I just asked Jim if he had let Reese go, too. "Of course not," he said. So, for the next hour or so, my older three enjoyed a taste of independence. They kept riding back and forth from the cul-de-sac to our house to check in. They had a blast and, I must admit, it was nice to be a step further down the road of independence. Thanks, Jim.