WOW!! I can't believe I've ignored my blog for almost 3 months. Gee, I've been really really bad. But also, really really busy. Today, I finally finished Grace's birthday gifts. I had most of them done, but finished the last 2 today. Well, maybe. If I can find some fringe between now and Saturday, I'm going to add fringe to the bottom of the pink top. I just think it needs it. I tried to buy some today, but the store I went to didn't have any. Hoping I can find some at TMD tomorrow, or else I may make a quick trip to Marshfield tomorrow evening when I get off work. Their WM still has a fabric dept. The pictures are of the 5 dress up outfits I'm giving Grace for her birthday. The pink and cream colored tops and the skirt and pants are interchangeable.

A Week at Grandma and Papa's
Part 1

Our week started off with my parents, niece and nephew stopping at Washington State park, up by Sara's where we joined them when I got off work on Saturday. Caleb and Grace really enjoyed Jimmy's toys....especially the masks.....

Here is Ironman Grace!

Red Power Ranger Caleb

Ironman Caleb, whose face is about to big for the mask!

They also loved the Incredible Hulk fists. They were almost as big as Grace!

They really liked it when Cousin Dani pushed them on the swings.

Sunday Morning, Caleb offered to change Grace's diaper for us.....But Grace said NO... He pulled her pj bottoms off and she tried to put them right back on!

She loved it when Papa rubbed her head.

And as soon as the camera came out, so did the ham!

Jeff looks like his head is about to pop. I think we figured the weight of the 4 kids to be about 150+ lbs, then add Jeff's weight.....he actually did this a couple of times! As you can tell, the kids were loving it

She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini!

"Why are you interrupting our work?"

We wrapped up the day with a call from Mommy and Daddy.

As soon as she was done talking to her mommy and daddy, she raised her shirt up, laid on this pillow and told Papa, "back", meaning to resume the back rub. She had to throw in a "cheese" when she saw the camera!

And we had one extremely tired little boy.

Tuesday, they stayed with Papa while I went to my quilt guild meeting. Since Papa had to be at work early the next morning, I went to see if they wanted to go with me to take Grandma Bonnie back to the campsite. Of course, they both said yes, so I told them to get their shoes on. Gracie says, "Ok", and these are the shoes she put on and told me she was ready to go!

So far, we are having a great time together! Wednesday nights plans include a slumber party with all 4 kids and me! Mark is going to stay in Lebanon. We are going to make pallets on the living room floor and play wii, watch movies and eat popcorn.

Grandbabies.... some one recently pointed out to me that I hadn't posted any pictures of the kids on here lately. So, ML, these are for you!!(and anyone else who wants to look at them)
The first part of May, we took Caleb and Grace to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for a weekend. We all 4 had a great time. On Saturday morning, we went to the Old Time Photo place and had a group picture taken. We had copies made for Sara and Helen for Mothers Day. The bottom 2 pictures were taken at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge It is a wonderful place that does a lot of good for big cats that need a good home.

New Flower Pictures!

This is the view I see from the porch with my back against the front door.(very small porch). Not sure you can tell it here, but the thing planted closest to the porch is a climbing rose. It has a few buds on it. I can't wait til they open up, so I can remember what color they're supposed to be!

And this is looking back up the steps. Yea, I know, I need to sweep the steps and porch again!.

And here is a shot of the flower bed I worked on a couple of weeks ago. It's looking good, I think. I have a bunch of caladiums that have finally come up, and I'm thinking of adding them here and there in this bed. Just haven't decided yet.

I love the colors of this verbena.

Passion flower vines are growing like wildfire. In the background, against the house are my strawberries. Not only are they producing wonderful berries, I think they are a pretty foliage against the side of the house.

My Blue Moon rose. It's a gorgeous color, even if it's not blue. It looks pink here, but in reality, it's a very pale lavender.

The name of this rose escapes me right now, but it's a beauty, too! I have 3 more rose bushes that have buds, but they haven't opened up yet. Should be able to photograph them next week and show them off!

Had to have a close up of one of them.

And, last but not least, as if you all didn't know already, I love close ups of my flowers, so had to add one of this lily.

Berries and "How I spent my day off"!

First, here is a picture of a ripe strawberry! I picked a bunch today, some from my garden, and some from my neighbors, who is out of town while her berries are getting ripe!

Next, is a picture of my mailbox. The flowers are finally starting to grow and are looking good.

Then a shot of the flower bed after I planted the impatiens to replace the iris' I dug up Sunday. The flowers are still pretty small, so not showing up real well, but I think it already looks 100 times better. I'll take another picture after they grow a bit. If you click on the picture, it will show it bigger so you can see it a bit better.

And last, but not least, here is my newest project. Last night, Mark ran the cultivator along the outside of the dog's pen, which is just outside the back door. This is what it looked like this morning.

I planted SOME of the iris in there, and decided it needed something more for when the iris' die back, so back to the greenhouse I went and bought another flat of impatiens and here is the result so far.

Wow! I didn't realize it had been 2 months since I last posted. I've been baaad.......but busy!!

This morning, my 12' flower bed looked like this. I was sick of the iris' since they bloom, then immediately fall over, leaving only the spiky leaves for the rest of the summer. They hide any small flowers I've ever tried planting in there, so decided they had to go.(although, the tubers were so huge, I'm sure I missed pieces and will be fighting Iris for years to come!)

After a while, it looked like this and I needed a break!

But eventually, it looked like this!! I didn't see the bird in the birdbath til after I took the picture! She wasn't sure she liked being photographed during her bath, lol. I ran out to the greenhouse and bought 2 columbines and a flat of impatiens with the intention of planting them in here. However, I ran out of steam once I added some dirt to fill in the low spots. I got the columbines planted, but not the impatiens. Hopefully, I'll get those planted Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, since I have Thur. off.

While I had the camera out, I decided to take a shot of the bud on my new "blue moon" rose bush! This is one of the 6 new ones I planted this year. One in the back has a bud, too, but I didn't have the camera with me when I noticed that one.