EKjourney Backup

I could stare endlessly at the sky!  This is a sunset picture.  It is actually raining where I stand (just outside my bedroom door) but the sky is clear in the West. This morning as I went out to feed and water the animals, the garden was sparkling with dew.  I just had to grab my camera and capture the moment! My lettuce, ready for picking.  Pansies tucked behind the gooseberry leaves.  Water lettuce wishing it was a bit warmer!  Kale  My favorite flowers!  Peas.  Hydrangeas tucked back by the rabbit cage.  I love the background with the chicken wire on the left and the wood grain on the right. I have been pulling out calendulas like weeds because the leaves have mildew.   Lady's mantle.  Love the way the drops line up along the edge of the leaves.  The magic of this picture is the mushroom in the shadow. 

Finally finally finally!  The long awaited summer break is here.  Life is so much better when Phil is around!!  It just is!  We are still as busy as ever but it is a different kind of busy...family busy, project busy, errand busy.  I don't think I will ever tire of creatures tucked into their blankets in various locations around the house.  This is on the floor of our room among the baskets of laundry waiting to be folded. Phil had a conference in Portland so we decided to make an evening of it and have a picnic dinner at the zoo.  We picked him up and arrived at the zoo just as the crowds were leaving.  We were able to stroll along at a brisk pace, thoroughly wear the children out, and leave at 7:00 when the grounds closed.  Perfect! The cougar After a couple of weeks of playing with food, Glorielle decided to actually start eating!!  She eats regular meals with us and feeds herself whatever the rest of us are eating. ...

We don't measure our year from January to December.  Our year starts at the end of August and goes through mid June.  July is our vacation month. I am not sure there has ever been a year that I have been so eager to "say goodby to".  Four more days and its over!  I can reflect back and be thankful for a loving husband, 5 wonderful, healthy children, a roof over our heads, and food on our table.  I can be thankful despite the myriad of struggles. This is where the rubber meets the road for me.  I KNOW my job, I KNOW my calling.  I can press on with endurance and perseverance in the face of challenges, or not.  I can hope, or not.  I can learn from mistakes, or not.  I can believe that when the Lord asks me to do something He will give me the ability to even when my faith is a mustard seed, or not. I can search for beauty, or not.  

The children had such a fun time watching the big Koi at the Chinese Gardens that we decided to visit my favorite water garden nursery, Hugh's Water Garden.  They have a beautiful pond, lots of inspiration for container water gardens, a nice selection of plants and fish, and a beautiful tropical house with the gorgeous water lilies and lotus plants! Following the train.  Here it comes!  On the pathway around the pond.  Spotting the koi.  The pond.  Timber bamboo      Four out of five little Kellys. 

The children took a 5 week swimming coarse at the Aquatic Center in May/June.  The facility was so nice because was is indoors, warm, had a kiddie pool for playing in, and a Jacuzzi hot tub for warming up after lessons.  They had such a great time learning new skills and playing with friends. Waiting for lessons to start.  Brighton played in the kiddie pool with me while the older 3 took lessons.  Glorielle was content to hang out in the backpack. This is a big deal for Jubilee.  She doesn't like to have her face wet and water in her eyes and she was able to go underwater by the end of lessons.     Poor Sawyer is shivering after about 2 minutes in the pool.  He is a trooper though and doesn't let that stop him.      It was fun to have so many friends to play with!   

May was such a crazy busy month. The children took swim lessons twice a week.  It was an all morning affair of getting ready, lessons, play time, then a picnic with friends afterwards on nice days. Phil finished up coaching track. We had Brighton evaluated and put on an educational plan to help him with his speech.  Honestly, I am not fully confident that having someone work with him twice a month will make that much of an improvement.  I was disappointed with the service for Sawyer and found it to be a waste of time until this past year where we switched speech therapists (to the school service) and she was able to give me some new things to work with him on that did make improvements. We had quite a few appointments, evening obligations, and weekends out. The girls and I had our last Little Rubies moms and daughters group until the Fall. Lots of gardening - weeding, planting, and mulching this month! We found out that Phil won't be coaching football!!  The budget f...