Of nothing in particular

Can't believe it is already end of JULY! It feels like we just had Christmas. But that could be because The Little Drummer Boy played until April at our house. Summer has been good to us. Although we have been busy, life has been sweet.

Jesse is working on internal controls for a company that is getting ready to go public, so he is super busy. But he still finds time to spend with me and the kids. Infact, he got home, ate dinner with us, is putting the kids to bed for me (hence the blogging) and then is going to work some more from home. Can we say Superhusband : )!!!

Well here are some pictures to document our summer so far (in random order, sorry):

Papa and Spencer at our 4th of July BBQ

Spending the week at Nana and Papa's house

Sparklers!

Pretty bad idea to give six kids sparklers at the same time,

we did have one accident : ( poor Landon got the top of his foot

with the burnt out sparkler that was still hot. But for the

most part the kids that is was totally neat!

Watching Cars. I still can't get over the fact that he

watches TV at such a young age. Lyla didn't watch TV till

like 18 months!

Swimming in the backyard

Grandpa was coming... so we thought we would tag our

driveway with a greeting! It is words to a primary song.

The entire time we were out there Lyla was saying "it is

too hot, lets go inside"

Pretty, pretty princess

Ride 'em cowgirl. Oh, if you have been reading my blog

for a while, you know a year ago I blogged about wanting to make

a rocking horse. Well this is it. I finally finished right

before Christmas, and it was her santa gift.

Sibling love! They definately look like sister and brother.

I have taken on the project of making Lyla some summer dresses

and this is what my sewing room looks like when I am done

sewing...and Lyla is done destroying!

So Spencer was sitting in his chair while Lyla ate. As soon as

I took Lyla down and went to turn on a movie for her, this

is what I came back too. You would think we starve him!

But we all know that homemade Chicken Alfredo is so much

better than mama's milk!

I have been doing a lot of baking this summer and here are some of my successes. And yes you can drool, because they were delicious!

Sourdough, made with starter from San Fransisco!

100% whole wheat bread my friend Camille taught me to make,

it was super! And I put both loaves together in a huge pan, so it

looks like the bread you get at the store, and it sliced up like a dream!

For the 4th I made 3 pies. Red, white and blue. I forgot to take

pics of the final product so you go the leftovers! Fresh Strawberry,

Coconut Cream, and Blueberry Apple. Yum.

Lyla turns 2! About 2 months ago!

So until recently my computer was missing about half of it's keys, so I haven't blogged...in a long time! But there is so much I want to say about Lyla! She really is the highlight of my days, and her friendship and love really are a strength to me.

So here are a few pics of her birthday bash with friends. My friend Rachel helped me plan it, and it was so cute! It was a garden theme, and they all had pipe cleaner bug antenae, and they ate mud cake with worms, and played toss the bee through the flower. They also got to finger paint on the back porch and had a great bug search, equiped with magnifying glasses!

I just wanted to write down a few things lyla has said in the last few months that have made me laugh:

....Lyla called anything that was a condiment ranch, including mustard and ketchup, etc. Well one day while going on a walk, she triped and fell, and scraped her hands. I picked her up and dusted her off, and looked at her hands, which were bleeding. I thought she was going to see that and freak out, but instead she got this amazed look on her face, and looked up at me and said "RANCH!"...

...On a trip to Yuma, we stopped at a rest stop to give us some wiggle time. We were eating a banana under a ramada when Lyla looked up and pointed and said, "big umbrella"...

...My friend Amee is a consultant for Scentsy, and I had just bought some wickless candles from her, and had left them on the table. Lyla got up there and opened one, took a big wiff and said, "oooohh candle, delicious!"...

...I had been kneading sourdough, when Spencer woke up. So I stopped what I was doing to go check, in the time I was gone, Lyla had pulled a chair over, and was at the island pinching little dough balls off, and rolling them into little balls and lining them up all along the counter while sining, "I am making the bread mama!"...

...On a trip to Subway, we had ordered Lyla her very own meal for the first time. Her little sandwich had cheese, ham, and olives, of which she ate entirely, except for the bread. Jesse said, "Well Lyla you haven't even touched your bread." To which she responds by looking at him, and then gently patting her bread with her hand...

...On a walk to the park, Lyla and I passed a yard with some weeds in it. As we were meandering by she suddenly stops and throws up her hands, "oh a weed, I will pick it!" and promptly tore it up by the roots. She held on to the weed for the next 1/2 mile until we got to the park.

OK, OK so you are probably bored with Lyla stories, but I just get such a kick out of her sometimes! And hopefully I can resume posting at regular intervals. I have so many cute pictures, and stories of Lyla and Spencer.

If I could, I would... garden that is

So yesterday I was feeling all sorry for myself... with that large barren backyard, calling for me to come do something to it. And I being green with envy at me sisters ability to grow things, thought I might give it a whirl. So with gusto, I found a tutorial online about how to make a raised garden bed.

Directions say easy, 1 hour project.

Oh, did I mention that I have clay for a backyard, not dirt? Oh, and did I mention that is why I decided to make a raised garden, and the clay is the bane of my existence, and also the reason the backyard is barren?

1 hour project has now turned into a forever project, because said dirt will not allow me to stake the garden bed into the ground as tutorial requires.

So $60 spent = no garden bed today, and probably not tomorrow either.

So I tried soaking the ground with water. But guess what, my nice backyard is waterproof. Yeppers, water just sat on top of that dandy clay.

Any suggestions anyone? What have you done to overcome your backyard woes? How can I garden in this blasted desert?

Sentimentality

Last week was such a beautiful week with my children. Because they were both sick, we stayed home, and slowed down. And because I took the time to slow down, I found moments. Moments were I realized how much I love my children, and how much I cherish the time I get to spend with them and watch them grow.

It is easy for me to forget to enjoy motherhood. Sometimes I just survive through it. But motherhood is my life's greatest work, and even though I may feel as if there is nothing to show for the work that I put in... there is, and I see it every day in the faces of my sweet babies.