Tiny Little Flowers

I know that summer has just begun,

and I have a LOT of watering left to do...

but I am pleased as punch that my flowers

I planted in April are still alive!!

Here are the pots on the front porch...

BEFORE.....

and here they are today~

They are getting so big...

and they smell so good when you

open the door.

I have to constantly turn the pots cause they will grow out

towards the front of the porch.

And the little flowers are growing on the back porch too!!!

Impatiently waiting for the Impatient's to grow....

And here they are today!  I have two pots hanging...one

on each side of the back deck.

And my little Begonia's in the beginning...

Are blooming and blooming....

I think I need to add some more dirt to these pots.

They sit at the edge of the deck and get a lot water

when it rains so they are beginning to settle.

And here is the other pot on the opposite side of the deck.

Ignore the weeds peaking out of the pot and the

green nasty yucky stuff on the wood.

That is on my list of projects,

clean deck and stain it!

But since it is not even the first of June and

the high today is 95...that project may have to wait

for cooler days....

And I still can not remember what these plants are called...

but here they are before...

And today they are growing out of the pots!

These little flowers almost did not make it...

I was over watering them...

I know...sounds funny to hear me say

that I was over watering a plant...

since I usually underwater them.

I also told Scott that after the summer I think I need

him to drill some more drainage holes in the bottom

because I would find water just sitting on top of the dirt.

But I think I have the hang of it now...

My little container gardens are growing too!

I have lots of little cucumber vines growing...

and yes, I know I need to thin them out...

I was sceptical that I could grow anything from a seed,

so I just dumped the pack in the bucket...

I'll thin them out and hopefully have lots of cucumbers this summer!

And my little tomato plats are growing too...

These are not growing as fast as the others...

but they are coming right along.

Little tomatoes starting to grow...

This morning Jackson and I had to stake the tomato plants up...

they were falling over and growing through the deck railing....

This is my biggest tomato plant...

It's a grape tomato plant...

and there are lots of little grape tomatoes..

I'm so excited!!!

Lots of little tomatoes...

minus two that I knocked off today while I

was trying to steak them up...

the birds better not get any ideas

and start eating my little tomatoes

or there will be war with the birds...

So there are my little flowers,

alive and well...

maybe if I can keep all of these alive through the summer,

the boys will stop laughing at me and telling

me I have a black thumb...

maybe...

We'll have to wait and see...

Many Reasons to Celebrate

Today we were finally able to celebrate

Jackson's 3rd Birthday with our family.

We were out of town on his actual birthday

and then the time got away from us

and the tornadoes came and Uncle Jeff was

working from sun up to sun down and then

Scott has been helping several with clean up and rebuilding

so a party just slipped us by.

But today we were able to cook out with family

and celebrate his big day.

Jackson loves anything with wheels so when

we showed him the tractor cake he decided that would

be best for his big birthday!

This picture totally cracked me up...

Austin wanted to light the candles on the cake,

so I let him...

Kerri is not looking so sure!!

Ha Ha...she's thinking, he's gonna burn his hand off!!!

When we started to sing, Jackson ducked his head.

He's so funny.

Any time we start to sing the Happy Birthday song,

whether it is to him or not,

he hides his head.  It's too funny.

Time to blow out the candles!

Three big candles on the cake!

Kerry, Jackson and Austin...

Say Cheese!

Jackson was all about some cake and ice cream!

After dinner we headed out to the back yard for some

Frisbee and football in our polka dotted yard.

Scott sprayed some spots in the yard and

 you really could not see them,

and then he fertilized the yard...

and it turned really green...

and the spots looked really yellow.

Oh well...in a few weeks we'll have a

green yard once again.

After the party guest headed home,

Jackson headed back out front to try out a

birthday present from Aunt Leisa.

light up bubbles are way cool!

My Three Men!

They are the best.

Austin was such a big helper today and Scott

grilled us up a tasty dinner!

I would be lost without them!



A beautiful sunset after a beautiful day!

It was nice to take a break from reality for a while

and just enjoy being together and relax.

A time to be thankful for our health,

our family and the freedom we enjoy.

Happy Memorial Day!

And Happy Belated Birthday, Jackson!

School's OUT for SUMMER!!!!!

That's right....

School....is...OUT!!!

Today was Austin's end of the year party
for 6th grade.
They do not have an official
6th grade graduation so they had a
graduation themed party instead.
Mrs. Hall gave them a diploma
and the class voted on a
6th grade who's who!

Austin was voted the
Techno Whiz Kid award
and the Video Gamer...
not so sure I like the video game award
but the kid knows his computers!





Special treats for their party

Hanging out with friends in the lunchroom
waiting to fill their plates!

Jackson was so excited to sit with Austin at his
desk and listen to the awards and watch the
end of the year video.
And I was so proud of Jackson for
sitting so still!
He just watched and clapped along
when the big kids would.

 

And I got one last picture of Austin and Mrs. Hall.
He wouldn't let me come in on the first day of school and
take a picture...he told me that was not cool in 6th grade.
But I got a quick snapshot on the last day.

Look out summer....
Here we come!!!

SweetSeat Giveaway!!!

Jennifer over at

iHeart Organizing

is having a give-a-way!!!

And I would love to win one of these!!



I think it would match my kitchen much better than this...

So if you want a chance to win one of your own
hop on over to
Here...
Read all about SweetSeats
then leave a comment for your chance to win.

Good Luck!

Bruises, Bumps and Boo-Boo's

Well Summer has arrived,

and so have the skinned knees,

bug bites, and bruises

that go along with

having little boys!

I decided that I was going to organize

my first aid supplies.

I had some things in the kitchen,

some in the linen closet,

and some in the bathroom.

I figured that one general place would be better.

I gathered up the supplies that were in the linen closet

Then I got together the new supplies that I thought

I needed to have in a first-aid kit for boys!

Combined them all together and started taking

things out of the box...I figured that they would fit better

in my box...

Lots of trash and expired things to

be thrown away!

Then I loaded everything up into my

little plastic storage box.

Had a cute little vinyl label made to

tell us what is in the box...

And there we have it!

Everything we need for

Bruises, Bumps and Boo-Boo's

all in one place!!!

I think I am going to do another box for

Sniffles, Sneezing and Snotty Noses

and keep all of our

cold and allergy supplies inside.

I am starting to make a loooooong list of
projects that I plan on tackling once school is out.
Since I'll have an extra set of eyes on Jackson
maybe I can get a few things done!
We'll see!

Happy Monday!











Award's Day

The end of the school year is almost here.
Yesterday was awards day at school.
It was also the Senior Class's last chapel.
I can never make it through chapel
 on Awards Day without crying.
The Senior boys always do such a good job
and it makes us realize that they are no longer little boys
but turning into fine young men!

This was out last
"Elementary Awards Day"
Austin will be leaving 6th grade and will have
High School Awards next year.
Scott leaned over yesterday when they dismissed
elementary parents from awards
so the high school parents could come in and said

"Just think, in two more years we'll sit through the whole thing"

Oh Boy...
I'm not sure I'm ready for Jackson to start Kindergarten.
Good thing I have two more years before he does!

But now to brag on Austin.

He made the "A Honor Roll"
He has made the honor roll all 6 years
of elementary school!




He was also given the
President's Award for Educational Excellence

 

Doesn't he look so excited to be there! HA

I was so proud of him for wearing a
"Church Shirt"
to awards day.
When he came out of his room I tried to not smile or
say anything and he looked at me and said
"I thought I would dress up a little for awards day"
I was a very proud Momma.
Not only for his awards,
but that he can choose to wear something
other than a t-shirt and jeans!

Tomorrow is Field Day and then
they will probably goof off the rest of the year.
Monday and Tuesday are our last two
full school days and they will spend time
turning in their books and cleaning up their desks.
Then 1/2 days for Wednesday and Thursday.

Let the summer begin!!!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary....

For some reason this year I want to plant

flowers, a garden, anything I can try to make grow!!

I'm not sure where this is coming from,

cause I have never had a garden,

and most flowers I plant usually die!

But this year while Mom was here, I decided I wanted to grow

a few tomatoes.  So we found some pots at Big Lots that

I could sit up on top of the deck and I thought I would

give it a try.  Jackson is having fun helping me keep things watered.

And guess what...they are growing!!!!

Yummy tomatoes starting to grow, Grow, GROW!!!

I even had to tie up the one plant today.

I looked out and thought that I had killed it already...

it was laying over on the deck.

But it wasn't dying...it was growing!!!

And look what we saw...

A teeny tiny tomato starting to grow!

Now if I can just keep it alive,

I'll be doing good!!

My mother is so good at gardening,

I definitely think I missed out on that gene!

But she always has a 1/2 a bazillion tomato plants

and when she comes down in July she brings me lots...

and that is after she has given my Aunt lots,

and eaten lots,

and canned lots,

and made lots of salsa,

and given lots to strangers on the street...

I'm not trying to beat her record any time soon,

but a few fresh tomatoes every now and then

sure would be nice.

And something else that is growing...

Jackson's Hair!!!

It is growing like a weed...

he has needed a hair cut for weeks,

but it is out of control!!!

He is on the books tomorrow for a hair cut...

Look out Kathy...Here we come!!!

He's also growing like a weed!

He is scheduled to have his 3 year check up soon.

I can't wait to see if he is still on the growth chart

or if he jumped clear off the top!

Winding Down...

Well...this school year is winding down

and the countdown to summer is on!!

The kids were going to have to extend their school

day to make up time that we lost after the tornado outbreak

but the school's were allowed to apply for

"forgiveness" from the state to not have to make up the days.

Austin's school was approved so they only had to have one

extended day.  Some school systems do have to makeup the time.

But luckily we do not.

We have still been busy getting last minute grades in,

taking every bit of extra credit he can get his hands on,

and counting down until the last day!

Tomorrow is awards day at school

and then they have Field Day on Thursday,

we hope.

They originally had it planned for last Friday,

but we had thunderstorms instead.

Then she rescheduled for today,

but it is cold and rainy...

We have been having a few days in the 90's

with lots of sunshine...

but today it is only suppose to be 60

with rain and clouds, so not a good day

to play outside all day!

After this week we have his End of the Year party

and we will say Goodbye to Elementary School!!!

I can't believe that Austin will be in Middle School

next year...time sure does fly by!

But before the end of school,

I have LOTS of laundry to do

and general cleaning to get done!!

You would think with as much laundry that

we have that 42 people live in this house!

This is what I had lined up to do a few days ago,

I was on a roll....

Several loads of dress clothes to be washed and laid out

to dry....

I found these Hamilton Beach drying racks

a couple of years ago at Ross

and I absolutely

LOVE THEM!!!!

I bought one and used it and immediately

went on a search for another!

I found one and bought another for me and one for

my mom...who has not taken her's out of the box!

I just don't understand that...

and yes...I have told her is she ever decided to get

rid of it, she better give it back to me.

Then we found them on clearance at our local CVS store for

$4.99

and yes...I bought every last one they had!

Scott thought I was nuts, but I used those for gifts.

They will dry a sweater in no time flat.

They have four racks that attach to a drying tower.

Pop the rack in, lay your sweaters out,

and in a couple of hours,

they are dry!!

But the other day I had so many clothes to hang dry,

my little dryers were not enough.

And then my bed looked like I was cleaning out the closet,

but I was trying to stuff more in there...

Even after my great closet clean out a few months ago,

I think I could still find a few things to pack up!

So, the other day when I started this marathon laundry session,

my dryer started making a funny noise...

So I called Scott.

I figured my dryer would be like the car and

only make the noise when he wasn't listening.

He didn't' answer his phone.

So I left him a message and told him what was up

"call me when you have a minute"

A few minutes later he called.

I held up the phone and let him listen and

then I heard the words I thought I would never hear...

"STOP using the dryer!"

What , huh?

I had 6 more loads to do,

what do you mean STOP!

He pulled it out later that evening and found that

it was only a loose screw so after an easy fix we

were back in the laundry business!

But now after a busy weekend,

I feel like I never got anything done last week

and 6 more loads are waiting for me again...

so I'm off to do laundry!

It's raining today, so I guess I'll get on it!

Have a wonderful week!!!