Look at What We Saw . . .

Out of our windows look what kind of sky we saw. It was so beautiful I just had to snap a few pictures. We live in such a beautiful place.

A Recent Trip

Earlier this month we had the opportunity to go to a beach that we had never been to before. A family member has a little cottage there and so we were able to stay the weekend for a fraction of the cost. Here are a few pictures of that trip. The first two are of a lighthouse there. I love lighthouses. Do you see the difference between the first image and the next. I used my zoom and wow I was impressed on how close I could get. You can even see the people. The image does lose quality - but overall isn't that bad for how close I got for being so far away. It's not like I am going to blow it up and print it out. If I were it would be no good because there is a lot of "noise" or blurriness. The next are of the beach. Notice my brave two older boys climbing atop the gi-normous rocks. I was a little nervous because it was so windy. I kept having visions of the wind catching them just right and pushing them over. The others are of go cart racing that the boys did with Phillip. I stayed in the car and took what pictures I could because it was POURING down rain. Hence, the photo of Isaac's muddy face! -- Boys will be boys!

Chocolate Croissants

Sometime ago I read an article in a magazine and found a recipe for Chocolate Croissants. I remembered waaay back when Starbuck's had chocolate croissants and I loved them! Then they did away with them. What are they? Flaky goodness with chocolate chunks in the middle. Well, when I found this I thought I would share with you my new found joy . . .
All you do is get the Pilsbury Dough crescent roll and seperate each triangle onto the countertop. Then put some chocolate pieces (I use the kind you use in baking cookies - and I like dark chocolate) down in the wider part of the triangle and roll up like normal. Then just follow the baking directions on the package! The result is yummy goodness with a cup of coffee. . I especially like them when they have cooled a bit and the chocolate is solid. Tastes soooo good. The kids LOVE them.

Enjoy!

Our Garden

If anyone knows me at all - they know that I so enjoy gardening. Here are several pictures. There are a couple from our vegetable garden that shows some of the fence that Phillip got for my Mother's Day gift. Amanda and I edged the garden with crushed oyster shell for a nicer look to it. Oyster shell is a cheaper way to go than like gravel or decorative rock. Our garden is having a rough year. I have been fighting crows, deer, slugs, and weeds. A couple of weeks ago I built (more like Jerry-Rigged) a somewhat pathetic scarecrow. I put Phillip's overalls on him (he wasn't too happy) and a Kentucky wildcats hat my father n law gave one of the boys. Then I tied cds all over it to keep the crows away. I had to use some red ribbon to tie the cd's and to tie the scarecrow down because I have no rope - but being somewhat crafty, I have plenty of ribbon laying around. The result is a pathetic attempt at keeping the crows out - and I think it also serves as an embarrassment to my hubby. BUT . . . it WORKS! I have tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, pumpkins, zucchinis, cucumbers, rosemary, sweet basil, green onions, beets, and blueberries, radishes, and carrots. We just harvested beets the other day and they were soooo good. Beets out of the garden do not even compare to canned beets from the store. My kids love beets out of the garden. Well, until they go potty . . .
There is also Dinnerplate Dahlias in my garden (named that because they are ginormous - the size of Chloe's head).


This above picture is of the beets we harvested. Look at the size of the top one compared to the other one. It was HUGE!

These pictures are of other flowers throughout my yard.

This little pink flower is actually a Dahlia. It is so pretty and vivid. It has amazing color to it. The leaves are actually more blackish than this picture illustrates. So the contrast between the petals and foliage is very striking.

First Time Surfing

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. The weekend before last we were at a beach we had never been - I will post pictures of that time during another post. This last weekend we went to our favorite little beach that we usually go to - and Isaac went surfing for the first time! What a momentous occasion! We also took a young man that is a youth at our church. He had been wanting Phillip to teach him how to surf as well. They both had a WONDERFUL time. The weather was awesome! The surf was okay for beginners. The other kiddos had such a great time looking for sand dollars and building forts. You can see Gabriel poking his head out of the fort. We just loved it. I think Phillip also really enjoyed himself.

I have soooo many pictures, but so little time - I would like to try and get some more images uploaded - we will see.

For those of you who know my dear friend Amanda - she has started a blog. You can link to it from my sidebar in the spot entitled "Other Blogs I Enjoy". Leave her a welcoming comment. She would love that.

More Falls Photos

Here are some more photos from the trip to the falls. The first is of Amanda's son Jadon. So cute. Ellie saw that picture on my screen, and got so excited to see "her Jadon." The rest are of the different scenic pictures I took. Let me know what you think.

Bunch o' Crazies

Yep. That's how I sum up these first two snapshots. WHAAAT were we thinking??!! Amanda and I going on a shopping adventure with SEVEN kidlets! -- BUNCH O' CRAZIES! Or as my good friend would say "A couple of Mo's." (I call everyone that now - thanks Amanda - Mo Manpants!) -- okay nevermind the rest of you . . .

We had a good time though. We had promised the kids a trip to the falls on the way home. Here is a couple of snapshots from that. (I asked an oriental man who barely spoke english if he could take some pictures. I was a little nervous handing him my camera - but quickly sized him up and decided if needed I could take him down - besides his camera was like a Mercedes Benz compared to my VW Passat I have for a camera) I have some images that I took that I want to edit first. I think they will look good once I rev up the color in them.

The last picture is of Adah and Ellie being cute. I made each kid (except Chloe who was hanging off of me like a 24lb. monkey) have a buddy. They were incharge of knowing where their buddy was at all times. Consequently you heard me and Amanda always chanting "Where's your buddy?" to whatever kid was not holding a hand. It worked GREAT! At the end of the day they were trained to hold hands even if they didn't need to. Everyone that passed by us was amazed at how cute they all were holding one another's hands!

By the way . . . for the record I don't make it a habit to wear blue bows for bracelets. This happens to be Chloe's headband she kept ripping off her head. I wrapped it around my wrist so I wouldn't lose it. Just so you know - I'm not a Fashion Mo.

Adah Grace

Here are some images that I have played with from when Amanda was here. This is her little girl. I tried to do the best I could - but discovered that the images were a bit blurry. She must have been moving a bit. I get so confused as to where to begin in editing. So many options. The sharpness adjusting also confuses me a bit. Trying to train my eye as to what is toooo much and what isn't enough. Hmmm, just going to continue reading my "Photoshop for Dummies" book. It is hard for me to read about something that I just really want to jump into and start the "doing" process. Oh well, you have to start somewhere. I will try and get some outside shots of my kiddos here soon. I like the greens in my grass and bushes lately. I am also really in need of printing many of my images. Like Jenny says . . . don't get behind in this area. Ohhhh . . . so many "want to do" projects and soooo little time. I also need to get organized for school and so much more. Another "want to do" is weight loss! I want - no need - no . . . really just want, to lose 10 pounds before September. Why that amount by September? Just a small goal. I find this works better for me to set small goals that are attainable rather than focusing on BIG amounts - that justs overwhelms me. Soooo, it's ten pounds by September. Then after that I need to lose 9 more pounds to be where I was when I became pregnant with Chloe. I just like losing the weight between each little one. In the course of my life I have collectively lost 290lbs. between pregnancies. WOW! That's CRAZY!

I am beginning to doubt it will happen this time - help me be accountable - I so need it.

But then, I need that in every area of my life; devotions, school, house work, ya da ya da ya da...