Things have been crazy here since getting back from vacation. Unpacking, cleaning, gardening, just trying to get back to normal. Tuesday I took Brodie to the specialist for his little boy problem. He has been having to go potty alot and never seems to be able to drain his bladder. Apparently he has stenosis of his meatis and is going to have surgery June 29th to repair the problem. Poor guy.

Will had a filling put in this week as well. So much for "I have perfect teeth." His last dentist apt didn't go so well. He has to have another filling next week too.

The garden has been doing well, you can read about it below. The chickens are getting big! I am excited, only 4-6 more weeks and I should be getting some eggs from these ladies.I harvest 12 cups of cherries from our cherry tree. I had high hopes of making some cherry turnovers but by the time all the cherries were cleaned I decided I was tired of looking at them and put them in the freezer for a later date. It was alot of work cleaning them.I have been feeling pretty good. I think I am getting some energy back. I have been so tired throughout this whole pregnancy. Next week is our 20 week ultrasound. No, we are not finding out the gender. Sorry!

Tomorrow is a big day for us. We are going to Will's cousin house to butcher chickens. They have been raising broilers for us this Spring. If all goes well we will be coming home tomorrow night with 10 birds! Should be an interesting experience. I will be bringing my camera don't worry.

Gardening News

With all the rain and hot weather the garden has been growing at amazing speeds. So far I have harvested about 20lbs of strawberries, tons of lettuce, onions, spinach, cherries and some snap peas.

Before we left for vacation most of my plants were still in the beginning phases. Now I have huge leafy plants with blossoms! Here is a picture of my zucchini plant. I already have a few little zucchinis forming. This is my first year with this veggie.My watermelon and cantaloupe vines have really taken off.Here is a look at some of the tomato and pepper plants.Here are my sugar snap peas. They are dying and I don't know why. I am so bummed. They looked so good and now they are all turning yellow and dying before the peas are ripe. Any ideas?? My herb garden really took off. Now I have to figure out what to do with all of it. We planted a few types of basil (pesto...yum), oregano (will dry this), dill, parsley (need to dry this too), cilantro (wanted for salsa, didn't realize it would grow so quickly) and garlic.My cherries did pretty well this year. I have harvested 6 cups so far with another big bowl to clean and freeze today.The raspberries are growing and show hope of a few berries to maybe pick this year. This is my first year having these as well.My mini pumpkin vines are spreading! I think I need to till up some more ground around them and then maybe lay some mulch. Not sure about that yet.

Vacation Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our trip. Will took the first round of pictures off the camera and put them on his laptop earlier in the week. We did purchase a new camera today! We have to try and figure out if we can salvage the rest of the pictures off the memory stick.

We arrived at the cabin at 6:30pm. At 7:30pm the guys headed out to test the water.The boys guns mounted above the fireplace.Drew's first bass. He reeled it in all by himself.Tony's large bass.Mom's bass.Tony's first Northern Pike. He was SO excited.Will's 5 1/2 pound Northern Pike. The fillets off this fish alone will feed our whole family.Jake heading down the slide at the end of the dock. Little did we now it was going to turn out badly. Swimmers itch will come shortly.Drew and Brodie playing in the water.Jake and Grandpa playing bags. Drew is the spectator. One of the many beautiful sunsets. Will post more pictures when and if we get them!

We're Back

We are back from vacation! We spent a week at Ten Mile Lake in Minnesota. We go there each year. I have been going to this same lake since I was a child. I have lots of memories there.

We went a bit earlier this year due to Will's work schedule. The weather wasn't near as nice as it usually is in July but we still had a great time. We had a few rainy days where we spent much of our time inside playing cards or board games.

Fishing was pretty good again this year. Will and Joel went fishing at 5:30am almost each morning. Mom and Jake joined them a few mornings. I am not much of a morning fisherwoman. I went out most evenings. We got a good assortment of Sunfish, Pike, Bass and even caught a few keeper Crappie this year. We brought home about 100 sunnies and 5 Northern Pike. That should keep us fed for awhile.

The kids spent most of their time protecting the cabin from incoming monsters, soldiers, and aliens. They each were able to purchase a new toy gun from Cabala's on the way up and that pretty much entertained them for most of the week. We stayed in a bigger cabin this year, which was really a blessing because there was alot more room for them to run and play.

On Tuesday it was warm and the kids went into the water to play for a bit. Within minutes of coming out they were all itching and screaming. They were exposed to swimmers itch! We spent the next few hours calming them down and rubbing lotion on their legs. We ended up heading into town to talk to a pharmacists who told us there was really nothing we could do but give them Benedry. Thankfully the itching subsided in about 5 hours but the bumps and welts are still present on Brodie and Drew. Tony never did get it.

Well I will post more later, hopefully with some pictures. We had a scare on Thursday night. Will, Brodie, Drew and I were on the dock fishing while the others went out in the boat. Everything was perfect until we heard a huge splash and I turned around to see Brodie completely submerged under the water. He fell off the dock. I jumped in after him and Will followed me in. He was ok, but it was pretty traumatic. Unfortunately I had my camera around my neck when I jumped in. It's pretty much dead now. Will is currently looking online for a new camera for us. I am hoping I can still get my pictures off the memory stick.

Here is what we have been up to lately. Gardening. I planted a large garden this year and have spent much of my time in there. So far we have been harvesting lettuce, spinach, onions and strawberries. Lots of strawberries. I estimate we have harvested about 20 lbs so far. This isn't including what I will be picking today. I didn't get out there yesterday so I am guessing to add another 8-10 lbs. So what do you do with all those strawberries? Well in my family they usually don't last too long. They are my favorite fruit and a favorite among the kids. I have frozen a bunch. So far I have about 2 1/2 gallon ziplock bags full. I am hoping to make some jam one of these days. We have also been enjoying fresh berries for every meal, including dessert...strawberry shakes, yum!

Drew has a really hard time sleeping in his bed. In the middle of the night he always ends up in bed with Will and I. I know he just wants to be close to us at all times. He is such a mommas boy. The other night while Will and I were watching TV I got up to find this. He was asleep on the train table right behind the couch. Will moved him to his bed where he stayed about 4 hours before joining us in our bed :)

First Dance

Tony went to his first dance last Friday night. Isn't that crazy? What is even more crazy is he had a date! Seems so strange for him to be going to school dances let alone have any kind of interest in going with a girl.

I was a little worried for him, but I didn't need to be. He had a great time and his older brother was there if anything should happen.

Before he left I quickly showed him how to slow dance in case that opportunity came up. When he came home he shared with me that he did indeed slow dance with his date. He was pretty darn excited and I was pretty overwhelmed.