Leslie's Birthday

Leslie turned 13 yesterday. This is her "watermelon" cake. She designed it herself.
Teenage world, watch out! Leslie sporting her birthday shorts, bangles and sunglasses (with sparkly hairclip, but not actually visible in the photo, so just believe me.)
We love you, Leslie!

Cinderella

My kids have been watching Cinderella, and now they are playing Cinderella. The funny thing here is that Ethan volunteered to be the stepmother. :) Also, in our version, Cinderella gets fed up with all the attention, hollers at everyone and stomps off. All the subjects of the kingdom then wander the basement (castle) and call out, "Cinderella! Cinderella!...."

Leslie's Art Show

We spent last night at the Jr. High art show. Leslie had two items on exhibit from her art class this year. The first is her rendition of her shoe. She doesn't love this, but it really is a great shoe.

Next we come to the exciting part, Leslie's still life took 2nd place! Way to go, you good Leslie, you!

Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

Ethan came to the house, yelling with excitement this afternoon. "Mom, I can ride my bike without the training wheels!" This was something he just decided to try to master on his own. We are excited to see him go!

Wa-hoo! Red letter day! (He is so fast! Just tears around.)

So I can plant beans....

This is my latest labor of love. We have really missed having a vegetable garden since we moved to the city. So, for the last several days, I have been painstakingly disassembling what was a very expensive, quite nice flower bed. It has been sad to take out the plants and even cut down a tree. There are still a couple of bushes left. We are going to try to move them. I moved several other plants too. What I am hoping for after all of this is that I can plant enough beans to bottle, enough tomatoes to satisfy my mania for them and enough other veggies to make us feel like little farmers. I hope hope hope it will thrive. I am not the best gardener. Too many irons in the fire to be the best at anything really. But, the idea of beans and tomatoes keeps me going.

This is my bouquet from Seth today. He brought it in, with his standard,"Fwowers for you, mom!" This has been going on all spring. As soon as a tulip would begin to bud and color, he would pick the head off and proudly present it to me. We always put them in a little bowl on the cupboard. I have to admit though, this is the first child to bring me just the stems :). Love you, Seth!

Too Many Hippies

Driving down the road with Camille in the seat next to me, she looks my way and says, "There are just too many hippies in the world!" I have to laugh, but then I consider, what does she think a hippie is? I didn't spy any peace signs, long hair, rainbows. I wrack my brain for times where she may have encountered hippies. Maybe when Kip, with his groovy head wrap says "Peace out." on Napoleon Dynamite. Maybe her mother.

I have to admit, I had a hippie year not all that long ago. It changed my outlook forever. I home-schooled my kids, learned a lot about essential oils, and got a bad case of disestablishmentarianism which hasn't entirely gone away. I did not take to tie-dye in a big way, not one peace sign involved, but there you have it. So, I still treat my ailments with oils, and I still wish that things were simple enough that homeschooling could be the greatest answer for us, but, you know, there are too many hippies in the world!

Answered Prayers

My avon lady left the perfume on my doorstep late last night. :) Thanks, Ethan.