Our Garden :)

This year the Garden has been doing quite well.  Despite the drought conditions and our vacations away...it is our best garden yet.  The tomatoes are taller than Lil'C, the cucumbers are growing like crazy, we have our first few peppers, the zuccinis are coming and the beans did well.  We even have a few baby pumpkins starting to grow!

We struggle each year in August because I am on vacation at the lake for much of the harvest. This year we had to hire someone to water on the days when Scott was not around and I even had to make some trips home to tend to it.  After all that work, I was not going to let it fall apart!!!

Once again, I have learned a lot and made many mistakes.  Each year I learn more and the next years garden benefits.  The one thing I can't seem to master is the sunflowers.....maybe next year!

On the Next Episode of Hoarders....

You will see Lil'C's Crib :(

 

The child insists on having all of this stuff in her crib!!!  Scott and I are always taking things out and more often than not are awakened in the middle of the night by a horrific scream.  The scream of a little girl wondering where the things we took out went.  It is crazy that she can tell what is missing in all that STUFF.   We might need help with this one ;)

Behind the Lens with Lil'C

Lil'C has been taking our camera over lately and I just love some of the shots she has taken.  It is so fun to see things from her perspective.  Here are a few of my favorites!

Daddy working at the "Maine House"

Mommy at Popham Beach

Popham Beach

Hiking at the Audubon Center

Cute FEET ;)

Cleo, Uncle Joe's Precious Doggy

Daddy

The Dock

Lady on the Ferry...she took one of Lil'C too :)

Her feet again :)

Daddy's New Keyboard

The Dinosaur's Live....

A few weeks ago we went with my mom to the Franklin Park Zoo where they have the Zoorassic Exhibit!  Everyone but Lil'C LOVED it (although later she said it was her favorite part) and Z and I went through 3 times!!!  The dinos were too real for Lil'C and she clutched to me for dear life and then wouldn't let my mom go anywhere near the exhibit once they left.  Poor little thing :(

I am not a huge fan of Zoo's but I took Z when he was 2 1/2 and thought I should do the same for Lil'C.  She just finished her Zoo Kindermusik class so it was appropriate and she really enjoyed it.  She especially loved the train ride.  We got super lucky here and had the whole train to ourselves!!!

It was a hot day but lots of fun.

Camp Mommy

It was one of those hot summer days where time seemed to drag.   When this use to happen in my classroom (I taught year round), I would have a Camp Day :)  A day where we broke routine and did things that were "camp like".  These things included singing around our fake campfire, eating s'mores from the microwave, Arts and Crafts, Games and Water Relays, Team Building activities and we usually ended with ghost stories in the dark around the fake campfire.  I am not sure any school would let me get away with that today in our testing crazed society, in fact when I worked for a really horrible principal the kids knew anytime the door opened they should start reciting their times tables :)  Any time the door opened, no matter what we were doing, they would start chanting, "1x1 is 1, 1x2 is 2...."  :)  I know she wouldn't have approved of me going off of the curriculum for a day but it was an amazing community building day with tons of academics thrown in.

I decided to take this approach with the kids on this hot summer day and I have to say, it worked out really well :)

We had s'mores (well the parts of them, my kids don't like them mushed together), sang songs, read camp books, had relay races, water balloon fights, spent a lot of time playing outside, brought out the train bucket which they haven't seen in months and did Arts and Crafts :) It was a really fun home day!

Getting Back on Track....

At the beginning of the year Scott and I were on track to be debt free by June.  We were diligent for 4 months about this plan and really curbed our spending.  By the end of April, we got lazy and lost site of our goals.  Some bigger expenses came up, we went on a few vacations and by this month were were almost right back where we started in January :(

So here we are....starting from the beginning and hope to stay the course this time.  We have started up our weekly budget meetings again, updated our spreadsheets and debt snowballs and have been more realistic about our budget.  If things go well....we should be debt free in a year (and this includes a planned family vacation).  We always joke around about the fact that we don't have fancy cars, clothes or a fancy house....so why is it so hard to stay on track?  Well when looking over our spending over the last 4 months, it shocked me how much the little purchases in life add up.  So those are temporarily on hold and every penny spent in this house will be accounted for from here on out.

 So once again family and friends, we are back on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon and are cutting back (for REAL this time).  We will catch you on the cheap or better FREE outings and hope that you can help us on our journey.  A journey that will require strength and creativity.  Next fall there will be a big celebration for our family....A DEBT Free Party!!!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!!!

Today is my AMAZING husband Scott's birthday.  He has finally caught up with me and we are now both 35 :)  We both have a list of things we want to accomplish by the time we turn 40 and one of his goals was to learn a piece so well on the piano that he could go into any room/bar/restaurant with a piano and sit down and blow the people away with this song.  I decided that for his birthday we would make this goal a bit more accessible.

On Monday night we surprised him with a new keyboard (thanks Mom and Dad) :)  The gift came  with headphones so he can play long after the children are asleep.   He LOVED it and it is my hope that this gift will be an inspiration to accomplish his goal.  He is already working on a song or two as he searches for that perfect song :)  Z and C are also loving Daddy's new present :)

Happy Birthday Scott!!!  May 35 be an epic year of Endless Summer ;)

And Happy Anniversary to my Parents :)

Love you both very much!!

 

Making Memories....

Mimi, Grandpa Jeff and Great Grandma Mams came to visit last weekend :) Great Grandma is in her 90's and as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out.  She had a tea party with Lil'C, a sword fight with Mimi, sang the Sound of Music with Scotty and laughed so hard at the kids silly songs :)  It was a wonderful visit!

These first two pictures were taken by Scott and I.....

Then Lil'C got behind the Lens :)

Sunflower Soiree

The second fundraiser for Kiki's Garden was on July 21st.  It was a gorgeous day, and so many people came out to support the organization.  There was live music (Scott, my dad and Scott's mom joined in on the action), swimming, boating, crafts and games for the kids, a silent auction, a big raffle, a sunflower labyrinth and the day ended with a BBQ.  It was a crazy busy day but a wonderful tribute to my beautiful sister in-law Krista.  It was so nice to see so many people come out and participate. 

Making Memories....

More Pictures from Maine :)

Hanging on the Dock

Her New LLBean backpack!

Tides were sooooo cool here

Big difference

Gorgeous Place

Learning how to make coffee without a keurig...Z is our barista!

relaxing....

digging for clams

Mudflats

So much fun!

MUD

My birthday cake from Sarah

My birthday gifts....Mommy Half Hour Glass for Mommy timeouts!

We thought this turkey was a statue and then it flew away!

Audubon

Bird watching

Making Fairy Houses

Z said this was a fairy convention hall :)

Bald Eagle on Diamond Island!!!!!

Ferry Boat Ride

Getting ready to jump off the dock into the harbor

soooo COLD!

Night Swimming

Visiting the Grammy J and Uncle Hal at their lake :)

Turtles on the lake

JUMP

Jet ski time!!

Fairy Houses with Grammy J and Uncle Hal at their lake

He so wanted to jump in!

Phippsburg

Rainy Tidepooling

Such a cool place...Popham Beach!

Rainy Day Explore

"We are swimming on the land!"  It was so rainy

Tidepooling

Exploring "Mammoth Rock" named by Z

Lobster Anniversary Dinner...YUM!

Gorgeous Beach Day

Stuck in a Hole :)

Playing with trucks

Loving the water

Surf's UP!