Clean Up Everyone!

He's coming home! I tend to go into 'vacation mode' when Layne leaves for two or more weeks. He and his biker buddies got some tests done early, so they will get home sooner than we thought. Don't get me wrong, we are pumped that he'll get to be home a couple more days than we thought, before he has to take off again next week, but it sure gets my heart pumping knowing that I need to get my cleaning crew together and bring back our Home Sweet Home.

Thankfully our kids ended up with Layne's cleaning gene and can out clean any crew from Merry Maids. One thing I have noticed is that the house doesn't get as cluttered as it did when they were smaller. Probably because we aren't home as much as we used to be. So the dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, and bathroom scrubbing gets done pretty quick with all of us helping.

We missed our dad. The kids missed playing ball and working with him in the yard. I missed another person with a drivers license. Okay, I missed him for more than that. I hate hauling the garbage up to the road on Wednesday mornings. I know some of you missed him too because if you called me you ended up having an eternal phone call while I tried to talk to you about anything and everything, just so I could talk to an adult.

Here is something that I thought was just too cute. Thanks Dad for being so cool. And thanks Marcee for snapping a pic and sending it to us. Layne said his buddies thought that was really fun.

Hard Day at Work

Layne is gone for three weeks. When the kids were little this translated into, 'Yahoo! Lay back and take it easy, we'll clean up later'. A mini vacation of sorts.

Now it means: baseball four days a week (usually two kids need to be in two different towns at the same time), end of the year school concerts, piano recitals, piano lessons, tests, field days, scouts, mutual, stake youth activities, yard work, gardening, .... okay, you get the idea.

I guess all jobs need a perk here and there and right now he needed to do some "tests" on the next Gold Wing that will be taking him all over North West America. Something about the high altitude....right. (j/k, I believe him.) He even has his trip planned to go though Mud Lake, Idaho so he can get his mom to make him and his biker buddies dinner.

Honestly, it would be awesome to ride that beautiful bike up the West Coast, down into West Yellowstone, and all those beautiful places that we miss, living here in Ohio. So bike on Layner! I already miss ya. While I'm running like a chicken with its head cut off, I'll open the windows in the van and pretend I'm on the back of that bike with you with the wind blowing through my hair.

Little of This....Little of That

(yes, this is our tree)

It is sure nice to have the trees come back to life. Our forests of gray & brown are now being replaced with multiple colors of green and lots and lots of beautiful blossoms everywhere. For our family it is a little bitter-sweet. We all, except for Josie & Justin, look and feel like crap. With all the new beauty comes full blown allergies. We'll be okay in about four weeks.

Thankfully most all of our problems deals with tree pollen and we are good till fall when the weeds that bug us get yucky. Todd has a couple more funny things that he's allergic to though. Like pig dander and cockroaches. I've never seen any cockroaches so he's good there, but he does share a room with Mitch so there isn't too much we can do about his allergies with pigs.

On another, much sweeter, subject....here is Josie's first quilt she's ever made all by herself.

She made it to take to girls camp. I showed her the concept of the 'strip method' and left her with a box of scrap fat quarters (small pieces of fabric for any non-quilter types). I think she did an awesome job. She thought it would be fun to be able to have her friends from camp be able to sign the back of it, kind of like the kids do with t-shirts. Good job, Josie!

They have arrived.

The day has come. The day I wait for from early October till late April.

My first watermelon of the year.

I could (and have) eat a whole watermelon all by myself. All through the winter I see the tiny ones that look like a little green Nerf balls. Sometimes I smell them to see if there is any fragrance to remind me of the best days of eating. But I always wait. I want a big one. Seeds or no seeds, they are all such a treat.

Rereading this makes me wonder if I might be a little obsessed with this perfect fruit, but I'd rather consider it more of a passion. Who wouldn't be in awe of such a wonderful creation?

This watermelon was delicious and I can't wait for them to even get better as the season progresses.

So here is a salute to the Lycopene packed, juicy perfection we call watermelons.

He's Eleven!

Happy Birthday Todd!!!

Here are a few facts about Todd:

*He plays the trumpet & the piano

*He is just about as tall as his mom

*He loves to play baseball

*He has always loved little kids and babies

*His favorite color is red

*He loves biking

*He can shower in 3 minutes (yikes)

*He is always ready to play a game (kick ball, board games, PS games, etc.)

*He has such a tender heart

*He is quite the comic and can really get you laughing

*He is awful cute (I'm his mom and I totally think so)

*He is pretty tidy

*He's a great student

*His favorite food is crepes

*He is a morning person

There, now maybe you can feel like you know Todd a little more.

Hope you had a great birthday Toddie! We love you!

Go Fly A Kite

Who doesn't have a blast flying a kite? Usually we get all of our kite flying urges out of our system by the end of March, but since it didn't get nice enough till April we are running a little late this year.

It didn't take long for the neighbors to start creeping over the fences with their own kites and join in the fun.

Obviously it doesn't take much to entertain us. For a $1.00 per kite at Wal-Mart we are content all spring.

While the boys have kite wars (trying to get others strings caught on their own) Josie hangs back and reads. She's a real blast to fly kites with.

So if someone tells you to 'go fly a kite' just tell them, "That Is A Great Idea. Thanks!"