Full Weekend - Sunday - The Not-So-Good Part

Just before we were heading out to an open house, I decided to run to the store. I didn't even get 2 blocks away when I was stopped on a red light in a right hand turn lane and the car next to me in the lane continuing straight changed her mind and turned right instead, without ever seeing me sitting there. She ran along about half the length of her car before she realized and stopped, and this was my prize. No one was hurt and I kept thinking about how minor it is in the scheme of things, but yeah, definitely a pain in the rear. It had to be towed, who knows how long it will take to get fixed, I'm hoping we can get an idea tomorrow. On a more humorous note, my bumper is made of styrofoam and plastic. I drive a toy car.

Full Weekend - Sunday - The Good Part

As we were getting ready to walk out the door on Saturday, a very special delivery came for the us, but we didn't have time to open it at any time that day. It was torture! So this afternoon while the babies were in rest time, we had the chance to bust it open. For those of you who don't know, we made a decision to homeschool the 2 older boys this coming year and this box contains our curriculum(minus math). It is a literature based curric. and so you know what that means, LOTS of books!!

So we've learned the meaning of Sonlight "box day" now and the boys were ecstatic to learn that we will get to have a box day every year that we homeschool. Take it easy boys, one year at a time, thank you very much.

Full Weekend - Saturday

Saturday we drove up to a small town just north of Loveland so the boys could participate in a track meet associated with the track program they have been a part of this summer. It was SO hot on that track!

So after some cooling off in the air conditioning in the truck and grabbing some lunch.....

We spent some time relaxing at Lake Windsor.

Zoe came with us for the day, and while she liked the water ok, she especially liked digging herself a shallow hole in the sand to lay down in and keep cool. When the sand she was laying on would dry off and heat up, she'd stand up and dig a little more sand out to get to the cool wet stuff again.

She was very patient while Asher dropped handfuls of sand on her too.

Whitney is a senior!

While it's almost unbelievable to me that Whitney will be a senior this year, we went ahead and got a start on her senior pictures during their recent visit. Here are a few of my favorites.

Our New Addition

This is Zoe, we adopted her last night from the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue. She's a lab mix and is adjusting to our noisy house pretty well, which is to say that she always has me in her sight. More to come on Zoe as she joins life with the Johnsons!

Saturday Park Excursion

We went to a new-to-us farm themed park in Longmont yesterday. Everyone got hungry so we didn't stay too long, but it was a neat little park. The barn housed the restrooms and a party room available to rent, neato!

Father's Day Sunday

Happy Father's Day!

Reclaiming the Backyard

As the weather got warmer, I got more tired of the mudpit that was our backyard. Last summer's construction left the yard grass-less and I had dirt/mud from one end of the house to the other. It didn't take long before we decided to lay sod, so the last Saturday in May our family laid about 1500 sq ft or about 140 rolls of sod(which were MUCH heavier than I anticipated). I didn't get a great before pic, but this is the yard in progress.

Isaac worked so hard pulling the rolls of sod off the pallets and getting to the edge of the trailer so that Jeremiah could get them into the wheelbarrow and deliver them to me in the backyard to unroll

After a very long and tiring day, all of the sod is in place.

And same view three weeks later. It's settling in nicely and our unusually wet month of June has been quite convenient for us while we try to keep it constantly moist.

Our Garden is Growing!!

With the help of a more attentive family, a timer for the sprinkler, and a very wet June, our garden is actually growing and in some cases even flourishing.

Carrots, which Spencer likes to call his own.

Lettuce, which are mommy's favorites.

Cucumbers, which have been eaten at a bit by some insect pest, but neighbor Bud assures me that they'll be ok.

Tomato plants that are getting huge and starting to produce.

One lone pumpkin plant.

String beans.

And raspberry bushes on the other side of the yard. Hoping for a decent crop next year.

And just because he's cute, here's Ash. :-)

Frani

Last week we finally got to meet Fran, the exchange student being hosted by my dad and family. She has a large extended family at home in Chile and misses her young cousins. I bet they miss her too, she was great with the boys. I got a start on Whitney's senior pictures while they were out which I will share later. I was able to get some pictures of Frani too.