Tuesday, May 29, 2012

May...and it's still May :)

It's still May for a couple of more days and I'm posting May pictures :) I'm thinking there should be a prize involved here somewhere...I won't hold my breath waiting! I'm just proud of myself for keeping up with my pictures and actually getting around to posting.

May has been a good month for yard work. Tom and I have done a lot. I wish I would've taken before and after pictures of the yard. We moved into this house almost 14 years ago. The ground is very hard clay. Nothing grows easily. We've pulled a lot of old bushes and junk over the years and my flowerbeds are filled with roots. It's not very conducive to beautiful flowers and wonderful gardens! Our grass, too, has been pretty much non existent for about 4 years. The boys are too big for the yard and have torn up the grass. We've tried to reseed several times without success. Last Fall, we got some grass to grow before the cold weather. This Spring, May (!), we worked extra  hard and the yard looks wonderful. We have actual, factual green, thick, wonderful grass in the front yard :) The back yard is right behind the front. We weren't as diligent in the back, but it's coming along nicely, too. I'll try to get a picture of the front yard soon. (I didn't take before or after pictures!) So, the grass was Tom's job. I think Daniel helped him a bunch, too. I'm not sure if the other boys did or not. My job was to pull weeds, clean out flowerbeds, rearrange the rocks that line everything in our yard, and mulch. It was a huge job and took a lot of time. I'm not quite done, but almost. I need to finish around the garage and one side of the house. It looks sooo much better. We're both quite pleased with the end results. Now, we just need to keep the kids off the grass and out of my flowers!!

Tom is still out of a job, but not discouraged. We're still happy to have him home with us :) We still need much prayer and direction.

Here are the May pictures!


Daniel on his laptop...probably Words with Friends :)
Nathan on his laptop--last picture of him as 15
Nathan's 16th birthday! My attempt at the Hunger Games symbol
                                             
                                      
Pictures of Nathan on his birthday--May 2
                                      
                                     
The kids found a frog and put it in a bucket--YUCK!
Peeking at the frog
Grandpa Koski and Haven celebrating their birthdays
Haven turned 2 on the 12th and Grandpa turned??? on the 14th
Nathan and Daniel playing soccer
My flowers
My flowers
                                   
Kids in the sprinkler...with neighbor, Cooper
Sarah, Rachel, Ethan
Rachel
Cooper and Ethan
Rachel
Rabid skunk in our backyard...it was captured later that day
Ethan and Haven on Grandpa Horning horse :)
Haven is telling Grandpa to get up!!
Haven's new doll and matching shirts
                          
                                   Haven vs  fudgesicle--Haven lost :)
Haven's new dress
Look at those mischievous eyes ;)
The sign on the girls' clubhouse: No boys alowed none ok
good stay out boys (Rachel wrote it)
The clubhouse
Sarah and Haven in the clubhouse
Sarah, Haven, and Rachel
Super Duper Room Cleaning Day--it looks so much better now :)
Girls were cleaning some, too--more to come later
Sarah and Rachel playing soccer
Ethan is the referee


Daniel trimming
Ethan mowing--don't worry, it wasn't on!
He looks so big :(
Rachel taught Ethan to ride a bike
(He calls it his two-wheeler, not a bike!)
He's a pro now--he rides everywhere and is so proud of himself!!
Cute faces of Haven
Love that face
Haven snuggled right up to Dad and 'helped' him :)
Ethan and Haven playing guns
Hands up :)
If I can figure out how to put on a video, I'll add the one of these two playing
guns. It's so cute. Haven falls down dead at the end quite dramatically!!


Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy the rest of May...it's been a beautiful month. I'm looking forward to Summer break from school (if the kids ever finish, that is!).


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

April 2012

No, I didn't manage to update more often in smaller segments. My intentions were good. Really. I'll keep trying until I actually succeed. Before uploading a month's worth of pictures, I'll finish the broken bone story from last month. Tom was playing soccer at church with the young people and dove to save a goal. I guess someone ended up stepping on his hand. Thankfully, it was his left hand. It swelled up quite a bit and bruised slightly, but it was very painful. He never had it x-rayed, partly due to the lack of insurance at this point. It has healed, leaving a slight bump in the top of his hand.

Other exciting news. None.

We are still unemployed. Please continue to pray for the Lord's leading. He has been looking and may have a temporary job in June. We still just need to know what the next step for our family should be. Sarah and I vote for New Zealand. Think of all the lamb dishes we could enjoy. Yum. And, best of all, no snakes :)

Ok, ok, enough blathering. Here are the pictures...
Haven and Abby K.

Coach Tom--first soccer game

Andrew (black socks, blue shirt) and Peter (yellow socks)

Ethan and Andrew playing soccer

Andrew and the girls playing soccer

Ethan was the goalie!!

Haven playing cars :)

Andrew kicking the ball

Rachel with the ball

Sarah as goalie

Sarah with the ball

Haven with shirt from Abby K.

Sweet Rachel

The many faces of Rachel



(She was playing with my camera)

Ethan at the Koski's--playing cars

--playing golf


--running track
--sleeping after a long, fun day :)

Haven in princess tent--she went and got her blanket, pillow, and doll!

Sweet Sarah

Daniel practicing soccer

Ethan rolling down the hill

Here comes Haven

Haven showing me her shirt

Peter getting ready to launch his rocket

Almost ready! Then my camera batteries died :(
 It was a great launch.

Rachel on a woodpile

Sarah and Rachel

(The rest of the pictures were taken at my parents' house on Easter.)
Andrew and Haven with my parents' dog

Andrew and the dog, Cinnamon

Daniel and Andrew matched

Ethan

Ethan

Ethan and Grandpa

Grandpa, Haven, and Sarah

Nathan on my cell phone--I finally got a picture of him.
I was trying all day.

Peter

Rachel

Sarah and Haven

Rachel and Sarah

Tom

Us--the happy couple :)

Weadock Family