It's Official

Summer must really be here - we have been to the pool!!! We had such a fun time in San Antonio visiting my family. The weather was perfect and the company was even better :)

Now we are home and working on wedding flowers and planning the invitations, decorations, and ....... Missy informed me that we have less than 300 days to pull this thing off!!! I am pretty sure that we have enough time :) My bedroom looks like a mad florist exploded all over the place. We are going to try to get the bouquets and the wedding party flowers done and put them away (somewhere!). Maybe then I can see my bedroom floor again. Have a wonderful, first week of summer!

Nothing Better!

When we moved into our current house in October, all of the older wood windows were painted shut and in disrepair - yuck! We bit the bullet and ordered new windows that were installed around Christmas. Now that Spring is here, we are finally enjoying the investment spent on our new windows. Every morning, I open almost every window and love the fresh air and the sounds of birds singing outside. We don't use our air conditioner except at night, and our last electric bill was 1/6 of what our bills were in our last home. I love that!

Our garden is in a side yard right outside my kitchen window. What a joy to look outside and see everything growing! We built "square foot" beds and purchased lots and lots of vermiculite, peat moss and compost. This soil mix has proven to be worth its weight in gold :) Almost every seed that we planted has sprouted. We also have a compost tumbler that we love. What used to go down the disposal, now goes into the composter.

My next project is to help Randy install a clothesline in the backyard. I loved watching my grandmother hang her sheets out on her line when I was a little girl. I am hoping that it is just as much fun to hang my own :) Any ideas on how to make an inexpensive and durable clothesline?

Have a blessed week and a wonderful holiday weekend! We are off to see my sweet parents for a few days.

The Joy of Imagination

Our three little ones love to dress up and pretend. Our big basket of dress-up clothes comes out of the closet almost every day. I hope I don't ever take the imaginations of our children for granted - what a priceless gift!

Sweet Mason has an appointment with an audiologist on Friday to determine if hearing aids are an option for him. We have had several hearing tests done in the past, but Mason wasn't interested in hearing then. Recently, he has shown a new desire to hear, so we will hopefully be able to give aids a try. 2 years ago when we adopted Mason, he didn't have any language skills. He hadn't signed (or been signed to) in China, and he really couldn't communicate in any way except through mime. Now he has a huge signing vocabulary and an understanding that written words have meaning. Things that I just took for granted with our other children have come through trial and error with Mason. I am so proud of that boy! He is a smarty-deluxe :)

Here is one of my favorite dress-up pictures (taken before Mason's new haircut). Have a blessed week sweet friends!

The Next Generation (of potholder makers)

I loved making these woven potholders when I was little. When my grandmother died, my mother found one of the potholders that I had made safely tucked away in a dresser drawer with my name pinned to it. Now the three M's are working feverishly to finish several to mail off to their precious grandmothers. Don't you love that some things never change? I look forward to the day when my own little granddaughter or grandson sends me a sweet potholder package. I will carefully pin their name on it and place it in my drawer of treasures.

Mason's New "Do"

Mason has a new hair-do courtesy of yours truly. After our wonderful Mothers' Day dinner, I decided I had had enough of sweaty boy hair. I borrowed Memaw and Granddaddy's hair clippers and gave that boy a summer haircut. Anyone else out there need a lovely haircut? I work for cookies :)

Finished!!

Our wonderful dad finished the massive playground last night! Randy had a lot of "expert" help from three little enthusiastic carpenters, and he lovingly and patiently used Mason, Molly and Madelyn whenever he could. What a dad!

Can't you just picture years of fun on this thing? I told Randy it might be the best purchase we have made in our 30 years of marriage. He gave me the "I don't think so" look :)

I hope all of you had a fabulous Mothers' Day! Being a wife and mother are my favorite, favorite "jobs." If it warms up today, you will find us having school and lunch and dinner outside on the slide. I wonder if all of us will fit in the playhouse for a sleepover? I'll let you know!

Almost Finished

One of the goals when we decided to move last summer was to find a smaller house with a bigger yard. We still have "miles to go" on the house remodel, but we are making progress on the backyard. Randy (along with three expert little helpers) is building a large playground that should bring many years of fun and laughter. I haven't actually helped with construction, but I do feed the work crew :) Here are some pictures of the progress so far.

Home Again

Randy and I just returned home after spending the weekend away at a marriage retreat. We realized that we haven't been away together in almost 2 years! My sweet guy brought home 2 dozen roses for me on Friday - he is a keeper for sure :)

What a joy to walk through the door to precious little ones who were so happy to see us. Thank you sweet, patient Hailey for taking such good care of our children - you are a blessing! Now we are resting up for a soccer game this afternoon and more work on the outdoor playground. Randy and a friend were able to get the base built last weekend. The new picnic table and sandbox have already been much used and loved.

Our garden is growing! We rush out every morning just to see what has grown overnight. We even have two tiny green tomatoes growing on a small tomato plant. Isn't it amazing how the smallest things can bring us great joy? How I love sharing life and special little moments with those I love.

Michael, Matthew and Missy - we love you dearly!