Father's Day and Belated Mother's Day

Randy's parents were out of town over Mother's Day so Linda only got a phone call. On Father's Day, however, they were staying with us so we tried to make it up and do something special for them together.

We planned a 5 course dinner, served by the kids in our sunroom. It was at sunset, the birds were chirping and feeding just beyond their table. A romantic setting with soft piano music playing...if you didn't notice the dollhouse, babies half dressed, remote control cars, and Barbie CD player in the corner of the room! For all of you who know Linda, you know how hard it is to get her out of the kitchen...especially around meal time. She is always cooking. I was trying to be patient, but I knew she'd have the whole dinner done if I didn't get "harsh" with her. I finally had to say, "After you're done with what you're doing there, I need you to go to your motorhome until further notice!" She says, "What?! Oh, I'll just be a few minutes, and then I'll set the table, and then I'll make the salad, and then I'll put dinner in the oven, and then I'll get out of your hair." It was about then when I started shoving!!

Is there such a thing as too many shoes?

I'm not sure why Randy and I came home from town the other day with 8 more pairs of shoes, but we sure thought we needed them at the time. The whole family got a new pair of shoes for the summer (turns out we don't need summer shoes since there is NO summer this year!) so there's 5 pairs. Randy only goes shoe shopping once a year so the other 3 pairs really were out of necessity.

As far as the picture goes...Kaylee and I were cleaning out the shoe closet. She helpfully arranged them all for me and I was amazed at the sight.

(That doesn't include the winter shoes that I've already put away! Like I said, is there such a thing as too many shoes, we just might be guilty.)

A day with Eli

We got to babysit Eli today for more than just the usual hour. That means we had several baby stations around the house. When I went to pick things up and straighten the house tonight I found that all the stations were still occupied...

I didn't realize we had enough baby dolls to take up all the spaces!!

And then, you just can't have enough pictures like this one. Playing mtg with a real baby...every little girl's dream!

Bird feeders

Randy likes bird feeders and he's got us all hooked on watching the birds...including Tucker! This weekend I got new hummingbird and gold finch feeders. Randy comes in from outside and says he's got the first one setup. He didn't want to put a nail in the house trim so he rigged up something else. This is what I found outside.

Can you see the green feeder on top? (Finally "they" have come up with some options for hummingbird feeders. This one even matches my interior decor!)

What a goof!

Garden Shed Project

The garden shed is well underway. These are pictures from over 5 years ago, right after we moved in. These beauties are NOT what sold us on the house! They did come in very handy for storing outside tools...until a skunk made its house under the shed on the right. (The left shed had no floor, it was the first burn pile.)

The second burn pile:

Beginning stages of the new shed with a concrete slab floor - no skunks allowed here!
I made it official. I parked the rototiller inside and hid an ugly wheelbarrow behind it! I can't wait to make a "cute" garden shed with antique windows I found at a garage sale, old barn doors with big black hinges, and a creamer that sat on my parents' front porch since I was a kid or before...must be antique!