Gardening and Such

Jeff has really enjoyed having the property at the house. Several months ago we planted sunflower seeds, watermelons, and pumpkins. They have all taken off and we have been pleased with the results! We picked a watermelon for July 4th, but when I cut into it, it didn't have a hint of red to it. At least we were able to toss it into the composter!We'll wait a few more weeks until we try another one. The kids and I head to North Carolina tomorrow and we are looking forward to seeing our family and friends.

 This gives you an idea of how tall the sunflowers are...

 Zinnias and bees!

 Some of the flowers that we cut from the yard

 The first watermelon that we cut-too bad it was green all the way through!

 Sunflowers and you can see the watermelon plants running in front too

 A butterfly near the koi pond

 The kids out at the koi pond

A Trip to Texas!

The kids and I recently returned from a 17 day trip to Texas. We left on June 1 and flew to Austin, rented a car, and drove it to Bryan to visit Aunt Candace and Uncle Bobby. Neither of the kids had ever met them, so it was a great weekend. Cousin Mary Caroline was also in town visiting from Canada, so it was extra special for the kids to hang out with her too. We spent time at the museum, local splash pads, and at a community pool. The kids had a blast learning to play the bagpipes from Uncle Bobby! Here are some links with the pictures that we took!

Pictures from Bryan, TX
Snapfish Pictures

After Bryan, we headed west to New Braunfels to visit my friend from college, Sandy. She and her husband have a vacation home there, and New Braunfels is also home to Schliterbahn, one of the largest waterparks in the country! We purchased season passes and went every day while we were there. Vince loved to play in the water and especially liked the submarine. Savannah wanted to do the large tube rides, but logistics with little children didn't allow us to do that as often as we would have liked. The kids enjoyed the New Braunfels Children's Museum too! Sandy and I worked on a couple of Pinterest projects after the kids went to bed and those turned out really cute!

The next leg of our journey was to San Angelo to visit my friend from junior high, Kam. She and her husband (and their 3 kids) live there and we spent lots of time in the water there too. There were record highs the first few days we were there-it was about 108 degrees! We enjoyed our time there and Casner, the oldest child, spent the night with us at the hotel and loved the free breakfast.

Our last stop was in Murphy, Texas...a little town outside of Dallas and Plano. We visited my friend Rebecca there. She and I went to pre-school together, played softball and basketball together, went to church together, and had some classes as well. Needless to say, we go way back! She also has three kids and Savannah and Vince enjoyed playing in their pool. Both said that our next house needs to have a pool and a hot tub. As the trip went on, Vince was sleeping later and later. Sometimes he would still be sleeping at 8:45! The two boys, Grant and Hayes, were both active in sports that weekend, so we spent time at the ball fields and indoor soccer facililty.

The flight to and from Texas were both great. The kids had never flown, but they did really well in the airport and on the plane. The most difficult part of the trip was pulling the carry-on bags and having to navigate the escalators. Savannah is scared to board the down escalators, then mix in holding Vince's hand and hundreds of people around, and she was a bit nervous!

 Savannah, Vince, and Casner playing the Apple products in the hotel room

 Vince bowling in San Angelo

 Vince and Hallie playing in San Angelo

 Savannah waiting for the baseball game to start in Plano, TX

 Vince and Lacey hanging out during Grant's indoor soccer match

 Savannah and Vince at the indoor soccer match in Plano, TX

Savannah enjoying the pool at Rebecca's house!

Teacher Gifts

Savannah's last day of school is today, so I made a couple of gifts for her teachers. For her gifted teacher, I made a wine cork board. For her homeroom teacher, I made the frame/front door hanger.

Day Lillies

The flowers are finally in bloom! The beds were pretty overgrown so we have slowly but surely been trying to weed them out and take better care of the daylillies. Some friends have come over to dig some up to put in their own yards. We aren't sure what we will do with them all! Here are a couple of pictures that I took in the past few days.

A Fun-Filled Weekend

Vince finished up his swim lessons on Friday and his last day of 3K at Northminster was also on Friday. Savannah's softball team had a party on Saturday afternoon and she spent the night with several of the girls that evening. She loved the water slide and was worn out on Sunday! Some of her softball buddies came over on Sunday afternoon to get the goldfish out of our koi pond to go in their indoor tanks. The kids had a blast "fishing", especially after both nets broke and they opted to catch fish with their hands.

 Vince and Mrs. Julie at the end of his swim lessons

 Savannah and her teammate, Anna, on the water slide

 Savannah with some of her teammates

 The pond before our friends came over to get the goldfish

 Savannah caught one and was so excited!

Cool In The Furnace

Savannah has been going to the Wednesday afternoon program at Forsyth United Methodist Church for the past few months. They have been working on a production about Daniel, and the performance was last Wednesday night. Savannah had a narrator part and she did a great job!

Bragg Swim School

Savannah took swim lessons from Mrs. Julie when she was 3, 4, and 5. I felt like Vince was too young to take from her last summer, so he took a few classes just to get his feet wet last year. I was able to get him enrolled in the first session for this season so that he will be comfortable in the water for the entire summer. He struggled the first few days of class; in fact, on Wednesday he was nervous-sick and may have had a stomach bug, so he didn't go to class. He did great on Thursday and on Friday was actually excited to go back! We have one more week of class and by the end he should be able to jump off the diving board and swim to the side.

 1...2...3...HIT IT!

A Boy and His Dog

Vince loves Sammy, but gets frustrated when Sammy jumps on him and pushes him down (especially when it's in the middle of the night). Now that Vince is four, he wants to "help" with everything; whether it's adding the detergent to the washing machine, turning the dial for the washing machine, loading the dishwasher, or "furminating" Sammy, he wants to do it. Here are a few pictures that I was able to capture of him with Sammy.

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Pinterest...

I have spent lots of time on the website Pinterest and have prepared lots of new recipes and made lots of new things for the house. Here are a few of the projects that I was able to wrap up this weekend while my mom was here.

Mother Daughter Tea

The Monroe County Women's Club was hosting a fundraising tea on May 5th and Savannah was so excited to go. The original email requested that we wear "Derby" hats and that there would be a prize given for the best one. I visited the Macon Rescue Mission on Thursday and picked up three hats since G-Mama was going to be here for the weekend. After all, we each need to wear Derby hats...

 Savannah won the prize for her hat. And, if you look closely, she has the #19 as the "winner" in the front of her hat and between the red roses!

Vince wanted to have a hat too, so we let him wear G-Mama's after the tea party.