Nature Girl

The pink mini found an abandoned Robin's nest last week. I know it was abandoned because two of the eggs were on the ground, crushed and I hadn't seen the Robin in over a week. Since that was the case, I let her hold the nest and then move it to another location (it was in a bush that was right where the painters needed to be). She didn't understand that the egg would never hatch, and I decided to not explain it to her. Sometimes, it's just better to keep the smiles on her face rather than try to explain the less pleasant aspects of life and death with her.

Pretty Yellow House

Woo Hoo! My house is painted and the shutters and lights are back on, etc. Of course, we still have to do some landscaping, but I think it's totally pretty! Much better than when it was trying to pass for a white house. It was more of a dingy pale gray/white before. This is so much more cheerful!

Home Improvements

Painter was here at 7:30 a.m. today. Normally I would groan, roll over and pull the covers back over my head, but 7:30 is practically mid-day for me lately, so I was actually finished mopping the kitchen floor and putting laundry away by the time he showed up. To be fair, I should say, handyman/painter since he's actually making repairs to the house as well as painting. We started out with a white-ish house this morning. Hopefully by the end of the week, it'll be a nice, cheerful yellow. And of course, we're going to get him to paint a couple of rooms inside, as well as (hopefully) put up some crown molding that we've been putting off for a couple of years. Isn't it interesting how you decide to do one little (or major) project, and then suddenly, it turns into 14 more?

July 4th Weekend

After having our 8½ hour trip turn into 14 hours on the road, we finally arrived at the family's house for our traditional July 4th reunion. The weekend itself was loads of fun, and very relaxing. We ate too much, got a lot of sun, played until we fell into exhausted slumber and didn't want to leave. In general, we had a wonderful time. Here's hoping it was a great weekend for everyone! Happy Independence Day, all!


The mini and her cousin L.K.A. in the tube.







Ha! She even crosses her legs like me! Here we are after an afternoon swimming in the lake. Baby boy didn't come on the boat and Daddy stayed at the house with him - it was just Mommy and the mini (along with the rest of the family).





Here she is IN the tube with another cousin, P.E.A. The two of them were chatting the whole trip and just loved being together. Considering they are four years apart in age, they are truly great friends! I hope they stay that way forever!





The mini's "joker face."








Aaahhhhh.....Baby boy is taking a nap with his Buddy on the sleeping porch. They are just too cute!