Recent pictures & complaints :)

WARNING: Vent of pregnant woman who is 9 months along, dealing with being woken up by a 2 & 3 year old at night even though once upon a time they did sleep all night long, kids who have fevers and runny noses, and 3 days from having a baby:

I'm tired and hot and cranky and I have a headache that has been coming and going for the last few days. If I drink any more water I'll find myself permanently sitting on the toilet.

I'm "nesting" only because I am feeling horribly impatient about this baby coming and need something to keep myself distracted, and contrary to what I had hoped I would be doing (absolutely nothing) the next couple days are filled with handling my own real life, visitors (who are TOTALLY welcome, but I'm wiping down toilets, and washing towels and bedding again -blah), and stuff I need to do before baby comes, like getting next year's homeschool affidavit notarized (hauling 4 kids into a bank - blah).

Do you know my pregnancy book describes nesting with "bursts of energy"? HA. I already did all the fun stuff, like oohing and aaahing over favorite adorable baby clothes, and buying new onesies and the baby's "blankie", all that is left is the de-cluttering, organizing blah-stuff.

Isn't it Thursday yet?????? I am SO looking forward to hanging out in my bed for a couple weeks. Hee hee. Maybe this time I'll actually do it.

But something just happened to brighten my day - my fabulously wonderful intuitive husband just texted that he's bringing home dinner - shows just how little it takes to make the world rose-colored again.

This Week

Monday was Austin's birthday- 9 years old! Because it was also Flag Day we picked up some sparklers and the kids had a blast running around with them. Serious plans are being made by Kurt and the kids for 4th of July.
Tuesday we went to Farm Country with some friends.

We've had some delightfully slow summer mornings where the kids have been able to hang out in jammies before we get going.

Lots of battles and wars - some between toys and some between me and the kids - mostly about that "get going" bit above :)

Lots of time outside in the sunshine!!

And some ice skating and playing around.

Its been a fabulous summer week!! Hope you are all having a great summer too!

Olivia Report

So, Olivia was going to have an MRI and follow-up eye appointments this Thursday, June 17th, but that isn't going to happen now. The doctors are going on vacation (why don't doctor's schedule vacations months in advance so this doesn't happen?) so everything has been moved into July. Olivia's MRI will be on July 8th. The VET and eye exam will happen on July 12th, starting at 2:00pm.

Olivia remains her ever charming and darling self - running, playing, learning and growing before our eyes. She's very excited about Baby Sophie joining our family in a couple weeks and is constantly pushing the boundaries of her independence.

Happy Happy Birthday Austin!!

A little self-promotion never hurts when your the oldest, easiest-going kid in your family with 3 emotional and dramatic little sisters :)

Love you Austin!!

Yard Update

Flower Report - We have so many flowers blooming in our yard!! I love all the different colors and shapes. Don't be too impressed about all the names I seem to know. I keep the tags that come with the plants so I can learn them. I lost last year's tags so there are several that I don't know.

Columbine - I have several red and yellow plants. I want blue but haven't found looked for it yet. I saw purple and yellow/pink at the store today, but was on a different mission so I didn't stop.

English Daisies and a groundcover I don't know. The daisies bloom this bright pink color and slowly fade to white. I love how these two are growing together.
Mountain Daisies - these grow low to the ground and the underside of the petals are pink

Another groundcover - Ice Plant - this one is a succulent and some of our plants didn't survive the winter.

I don't remember the name of these either, but I love the color!

Another no-namer that is sometimes eaten by deer.

Pots on deck - alyssum and violas.

Also on the deck is one of my favorite annuals - Portulaca - a delicacy for the deer, the blooms are all different colors.

On our side yard we plant a bag of wildflowers you can buy in any garden center, so it is a surprise to see what grows - I think these are Orange Wallflowers, which I know because we had a yellow wallflower last year but it didn't survive.

Orange Globeflower

I have a whole bed of Sunflowers - I am excited! I planted a variety and can't wait to see what blooms.

Lupine - somehow my purple ones are the only ones that survived the winter.

Salvia and Alyssum - growing in our side yard

Osteopermum Bronze (so says the tag, I would just call them a type of daisies) - these are new additions to our yard.

Coreopsis - returning well from last year.

Thrift

And now the Garden Report -

The tomatoes (cherry and early girl) are looking okay - not much growth, but that isn't surprising with all the rain. The cherry plant I have growing in a pot on the deck looks better that the ones in the yard, probably because it dries out more.

All the rain is drowning my green, yellow, and red peppers and zucchini plant. I think I'll have to replace a couple, but I'm going to wait until the end of the month when the weather should dry out some.

On the deck I am also growing strawberries, onions, and herbs. The onions look great. The herbs - basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, and oregano - are also doing pretty good. And some critter is eating my strawberries. :( I decided to grow them on the deck so the deer wouldn't eat them. I just hope it isn't a skunk.

Since I lasted posted . . .

We have been busy since the last time I posted-

School - we do less during the summer, but I like to keep our routine going with a few of our lighter subjects. Olivia & Jolie continue to be a challenge to our school time. I try to have activities planned so they stay busy without tearing apart the house. "Try" being the key phrase.

Sometimes Austin and Nyah can't help joining the fun.

Zoo - we had a great time! The zoo is always a fun place to go.

Yes, I'm big and oh-so-very pregnant. I will be induced on July 1st - I feel so anxious to be done I'm practically counting down the minutes!!

Playing with the neighbors - some of the kids on our street attend a charter school that follows a traditional schedule so they are out!! All the year-rounders have a few more weeks.

Family! My parents and Michael stayed overnight coming from my Grandma's funeral in Blanding on Saturday and headed to Logan Sunday morning for the baby blessing of my sister, Jesse's baby.

The very adorable Jude was an angel during his blessing.

After the blessing we stopped at a park to have a picnic lunch and give the kids a chance to run around.

Austin decided to read his book. He is reading the Harry Potter series.

This week my kids are putting up with my crazy nesting ideas. So far its not too bad - I'm just rearranging and reorganizing closets and clothes, and all the stuff we have stored in the basement and garage.

We've also headed on a few outings to nearby parks to feed the ducks, do our nature study, and play with friends.

Nyah showing off one of her favorite tricks. Or it was her favorite - a few minutes later she forgot to let go and practically pulled both arms out of the sockets.

My wonderful, awesome husband brought me a Confidential Roll from Suehiro. Oh heavenly yumminess! :)

And we've spent lots of time trying to keep up with the yard work. The weeds are growing, well, like weeds!! All this cool, wet weather isn't helping, but it is very enjoyable! Especially since my body heat has suddenly cranked up and I'm hot all the time.

And we couldn't resist a little back porch dancing and singing this morning :)