Our Moat

Not everyone has a moat, but we do!  Or, we did.  Shawn worked insanely hard for days and days to dig a deep trench to put the water line and electric line up to the garden below the frost level.  As of today we have working water and electric at the garden!

Filling some of the trench in so that we can easily walk across.

Where the pipes run into the house.

Have I Found My Marbles?

I let the kids play with marbles once a long time ago and they were all over the house such that it's been 1 or 2 years since I've let them play with them.  A couple days ago I let the play with them in the old pool.  They had a fabulous time and it kept them busy while I worked on switching Joy's winter and summer clothes.

I've told Paul for years that I lost my marbles at Washpital Hospital (what he called Washington Hospital) when I had him.  Have I now found them?

Hot Diggity Dog!

Home made hot dog buns...better stare it down.

I looked at this picture and immediately realized who it reminded me of...my dad!  I'm pretty sure I've seen this expression in pictures of him when he was younger.  I wonder if Grandma Cowan got as frustrated when she was trying to get a nice picture of her family:)

The Cat

 So, we had this cat living under the floor boards of the red barn.  It turns out it is the sweetest cat ever.  Thus says the lady who doesn't care much for cats.  The kids can pet it and pull on it as much as they like.  It even follows us around like a dog when Cana is not out there.  However, Cana wants very, very badly to kill it.  So I don't know what is going to happen.

My 36th Birthday

I started the day with a 6 mile run with Jackie.  Then we went to church and I did the Children's Sermon.  Then we went to birthday dinner at Grandma Cowan's.A new Bible, the ESV, was the present I wanted from my mom.

Having a snack with her Grandmas

Playing tag with Grandpa

Building structures form Arianna to dismantle.  

Joy's Last Day of Climbing School

Hanging upside down is her favorite!

Counting the seconds until time to open the bag of surprises.

Smiling with Miss Laura, who we both like very much.

Swim party time!

Elsa Costume

I was pleased with Joy's Elsa costume when it did finally arrive.  It was much softer than the Disney Store princess costumes are.  Joy loves it and wears it all the time.

Oat and Maple Syrup Bread and Naan

I made this oatmeal bread with maple syrup form Emily's trees.  Paul liked the naan better than the loaf.  He was excited to eat "Moshe" syrup naan dipped in Moshe syrup.

Party Veggie Tray Leftovers

This was one use for the leftover veggies from the party veggie tray...ham, carrot, celery and pea pasta.  The other use was a stir fry with the broccoli and peppers.  It's like my own version of Chopped!

3 Year Candle

I was so pleased that I was able to not only save this from Paul's 3 year old party until Joy's 3 year old party, but that I was actually able to FIND it and use it for her party.  So I had to take a picture of it before I threw it away.

New Sprinkler

We've had lots of rain and it was hot last week, so the kids got to try out their new sprinkler form Mary Alice.  They loved it!