Happy Anniversary to us!

In Eight years of marriage my true love gave to me:

Seven years of schooling,

Six years of football,

Five places living,

Four crazy kids,

Three graduations,

Two big vacations,

And One Happily Ever After.

I Love you eight years more.

more before and afters

So phase 1 of the taming of the yard is finished. We wanted to get this portion done so that we could get the play set in before the kids are too old for a play set. We are very happy with the result and the kids have been out playing everyday since Lance completed construction of the playset. So if any of you want to come over and play and/or BBQ we'll be waitin' for ya!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Favorite yum yum summertime treat.

Fresh Fruit Tart

Whether I am bringing dessert to a party or hiding and indulging quietly by myself this dessert is probably my #1 favorite summertime treat (which is saying a lot because I have many many favorite treats). It is light and sweet and with all those beautiful berry antioxidants it is hard to feel to guilty after indulging.

Recipe

Crust

1 and 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 stick and 3 TB butter

combine and press into tart pan. Bake for 8 min. at 350 degrees. (do not overcook)

Filling

1 package cream cheese softened

1/2 cup sugar

1tsp vanilla

zest and juice of lime

stir together and spread into cooled tart crust

layer with all your favorite seasonal berries or fruits. Peaches would be awesome too!

Enjoy!

I am a genius!

Ok lets be honest here. I am NO genius. When I was in high school, out of desperation, my dad offered me $500 once to bring home straight A's. My next report card I produced all A's. He never did that again and neither did I. I did what teachers describe as "not reaching my potential."

Now in my career as a mother I wonder if, mentally, I am reaching my potential. If I listen to my kids then I am borderline super genius. So I will listen. They think I am amazing. Afterall, I know exactly what buttons to push on the microwave to make hot chocolate hot enough but not too hot. I know how to put their 115 peice train set together in under 5 min. and without instructions. I have two magic tools, tape and glue, that can fix about anything and best of all I know how to use the remote to the tv and find their favorite shows.

Big deal to you, huh? Well these are all things that my kids come to me for because they think I can do ANYTHING. And that I know everything.

So why do I bring this up now? Well, mostly because I am realizing that my 6 year old is rapidly becoming smarter than me. He is starting to learn these things, become independent and I will soon lose super hero status. Don't get me wrong, I encourage them to learn and be independent. But now it is staring me in the face that I need to raise the bar for myself if I want to be smarter than a first grader.

So I guess I will dust off the old books, brush up on my state capitals, relearn all the types of clouds and just try to stay ahead of the game. It's ok if they teach me a thing or two along the way. I already have learned so much from these little ones already. Things that you can't learn in school like; unconditional love, patience, silliness, and how to just have fun being together.

But for now I will enjoy being super smart. Even if I am not. But don't tell my kids that, they will figure it out soon enough.

Me and the kids

Since the last time...

Oh I keep thinking that I am going to be better at documenting our lives. That maybe I will someday be able to write down the mundane details of our lives, the dreams of my heart or even just more than a line or two about our trials and accomplishments, But until that day comes I will have to be content with dragging and dropping photos and writing a few one liners to describe. Anyway since the last time I updated.....

Joshua now uses utensils

We took our Easter pictures into the sun

we roasted some weenies...

...or ate them raw by the fire

had a sod laying party in the rain (Thank you for helping Matt Vanessa and Cody)

gave up on potty training

kids still pick their noses

Cam got a double shiner. (That is why the doctor told mama that no more monkeys should jump on the bed)

Grandpa helped Darren with his Science project

Darren rocked his presentation

That is all for now. Baby is crying. Kids are yelling. I must get back to work. Good thing I love my job!