Raspberries

Well, it's now raspberry season again....already! I went out yesterday to pick for the first time. Man do I love it....reaching through the thorny branches, in search of the biggest, best berry. The thorns and thistles (since I haven't pruned my bushes) scraping at every piece of flesh they can find. The grasshoppers looking at me, with their beady, big eyes, and then jumping/flying towards me to scare me off 'their' territory. The bees and wasps, buzzing around, again, trying to stake their claim. And don't forget the spiders, crawling all over the bushes. And yet, I persevere.....in the RAIN.....just hoping to get enough berries to serve with dessert (angel food cake). Yes, the fun of raspberry season!

A New Revelation

Yesterday, we were at Home Depot with Art, and thought I'd pop into the garden department to check and see if they had their plants on sale yet. They did, so I picked up a few more perennials (yup, I'm addicted!). I picked up a(nother) hydrangea, as well as a couple of cone flowers and more creeping phlox. After the girls went to bed, I asked Art if he wanted to come and dig a couple of holes for me and hang out. As we were planting my last few plants, I had a revelation! I LOVE my perennial flower gardens. I do NOT love my garden garden. I spend hours in my flower gardens. I do NOT spend hours in my garden garden (and it shows!). And so, I realized.....I don't really like garden gardening....just flower gardening. Apparently, something in my mind doesn't want to be practical...Perhaps next year, I will stop making my husband crazy and make the garden half the size so it's practical AND gets weeded. Imagine that!

Summer Bliss!

Okay. So here's a quick little update as to what we've been up to. We had the family reunion, which was fairly fantastic! I was fun to catch up and visit with my dad's side of the family, some of whom I hadn't seen for 7 yrs. (that's when we only had 1 daughter...the way in which I gauge my life!). We played LOTS of bocce ball, ate LOTS of good fun, and had LOTS of good fun. I loved it! Thanks to everyone who came, and for all the help with getting food on the table!

After the family reunion, my parents took Hannah and Abby (along with 2 of my sister's kids) to Kelowna for the week. My sister stayed here for an extra 4 days, and we had an amazing time just hanging out and visiting. It's not often we get to talk and connect, since there are usually 9 kids around, but with just 3 kids here (1 of hers, 2 of mine), it was nice and quiet and relaxing....although I must say, I felt a little bit bad for Braden, who is 14....he was stuck here with 2 toddlers. Let's just say, he mowed the lawn....a lot! Trenna left on Thursday, and then on Saturday, we headed down to Calgary to meet up with my parents and pick up the girls. We had a little stop in Airdrie for a quick visit with one of my cousins (her husband has a shop, and he wanted to show it to Art), and then we checked into the Sheraton (thanks, Aunt Rhonda, for your family & friends discount!!) and waited for the girls to arrive. I must say, I missed them lots! At one point during the week, I called my parents to say hello to the girls, and I hear Hannah say, "I don't want to talk to my mom....then I'll get homesick again!". It was so great to see them running towards me and to hug them again. It's the first time that we've been apart for so long. They had a lot of fun at 'cousins camp', though, and are looking forward to it next time (too bad, mom and dad....now you have to do this every year!!). I must say, as a mother, there is something to be had for having all my little chicks together...it makes my heart happy! In Calgary, we spent the evening at the pool in the hotel. The older 3 are getting braver! Hannah & Molly loved the slides, and Abby actually would jump in the deep end of the pool (with a life jacket) repeatedly....yay!! The next day, we headed over to the Calgary Zoo for the day, which we all loved. It was perfect weather, and was great to walk around and see the animals. Here are a few pictures:

Let me explain this picture.....we had adjoining rooms, and so after we put the girls to bed in our room, we headed to my parents room and hopped into their bed to watch a movie. This picture looks a little odd, but I promise you people, nothing to see here!

What is a day with Nana and Grandpa without ice cream?!

All in all, it has been a great few weeks! Now that we are home, we've been relaxing and hanging out, having bbq's, and floating down the river. It is summer BLISS!

A Quick Update

So sorry to have been slacking in my blogging.....after the kitten incident, we left to go camping (first time as a family) for 5 days. Then, we came home just in time to unpack, do some laundry, and host our annual Canada Day Party. Now, I am getting ready for a family reunion which we are hosting this weekend. My parents come in tomorrow, my sister on Thursday, and the rest of the gang (I think there's only 35 or so) comes Friday. So, I don't have any pictures up (yet), but I will try and do that next week, after the chaos calms down! Good times, good times!

Another One Bites the Dust!

Yesterday, we have a bit of an 'incident'. And I dare say, a few of my children may be traumatized from it...

The Girls were outside, playing, and the neighbor boy asked if he could come over to play. I said, "Yes!", and over he came....along with his horse dog, Mikey. Mikey is a bullmastif, and probably weighs 200 lbs. He came trotting over, and got a look at Snowball, one of the new kittens. Well, he allegedly went running towards it, grabbed it in his mouth, threw it up in the air, and caught it again. It was about that time when I heard the Girls screaming, "Mikey! Put it down! Put it down, Mikey! MIKEY!" I went outside, thinking that he had a bone of Moses', but no. It was the kitten. By the time I got outside, the kids had gotten him away from the cat, and I walked over and took a look..... Not much to look at.... It was dead. I sent the girls inside, one of them to get Art, and asked the boys to get their grandpa (that's the owner of the dog/house). He came over right away, took a look, and shot out a couple of unrepeatable expletifs. Thankfully, Art came out then, and I left them, and went inside to see how the Girls were doing. They were sobbing on the couch, three of them, while Ellie Mae just walked around, chattering away. It was Abby's kitten (of course!). After they calmed down a bit, I took them outside to talk to our neighbor, who apologized profusely. They all forgave him, which I was very proud of them for.

One thing that I really appreciated about 'the incident', was that right away, our neighbor offered to shoot the dog. Not that I wanted him to, but it was nice to know that he took this seriously! He is currently looking for another kitten for Abby, and actually came over today to see how the Girls were doing. After this all happened, I thought, "Isn't it funny what circumstances the Lord uses to help us build a relationship with our neighbors?" For the almost 9 yrs. we've lived here, we've not been able to form any sort of relationship with them, but over the past few months, slowly, we've been able to cultivate some sort of relationship. Praise the Lord for that!

Any now you have it....the saga continues in our quest to keep a kitten alive...

First Trip of the Summer

This weekend was HOT. Really HOT! We were going to work on the yard all day, but instead, some friends convinced us to be slackers and head out to the river. Man, were we sure glad that we went - the water was low, but so refreshing. We enjoyed a picnic lunch there, played in the water, and got a good sunburn. Ahhh, the joys of summer!

Impressive!

The other day, I received a package in the mail. Under strict instructions, I did not open it until Art was ready, with the camera. Here is what followed....

My friend, Rhonda, who is in Ireland for 6 months, sent me this little ditty. I was fully impressed! Not only do I absolutely LOVE the dress (it has a kinda vintage housewife kinda feel), it fits like a glove. AND it makes me look like I have a waist. AND it's from Ireland. I wore it out last night, and felt like a million bucks! Thanks, friend!