Outdoor Projects

 Owning a house is just one long continuous project, isn't it?  We generally feel as though we have about 25-50 projects all at the starting/midway point at a time.  And any time one gets finished, another is waiting to take it's place.  But, "idle hands" and all that, right?  Better busy than the other!

 Tadd and his girls got to work removing all the moss and dead grass one fine spring morning quite some time back.  Caroline put in a full day's work helping Daddy before she headed off to school in the afternoon.  It's so fun to see them work so hard and get enjoyment from the help they provide. 

 Nora thought that raking with a bat sounded like more fun.

 As the girls and Daddy worked, a couple of nice guys worked on a shed in our backyard. 

 They did a fantastic job.

 The kids poked around and explored the work site as much as they could.

 Nora loved watching from inside.  She actually was stuck in the window and bawling for help at this moment in time.  Like any good Mommy, I stopped to take a picture before rescuing her.

 After the worker dudes finished the building, it was Tadd's job to paint the shed.  He chose good colors, didn't he?  Now it's my job to fill it up!  I'm only half joking on that matter.  It is, of course, for yard care items, tools, etc.   But it's also a storage shed and I am busy cleaning out closets that are jammed full of boxes that don't need to be in there.  Kid clothing, toys, baby gear, etc. that we've had to save and recycle for each new member of the family take up a lot of room. 

 I've been working on filling in all the bare spots under our trees and shrubs in the backyard.  It's hard to figure out what plants work well here.  Technically the area is shaded by the large pine trees.  But in reality, quite a bit of sun gets down there in the middle of summer.  It's sort of trial and error to see what does well and will actually spread to keep the weeds down. 

 Potted plants up on the deck make me happy.  Flowers are so simple, but can bring so much joy to the senses. 

 And this project has been a big one.  There used to be huge shrubs that were up against the siding (a no-no) and a pain to mow around.  It happens to be the best spot in the yard for growing vegetables.  So, Tadd and his Dad used a chain saw to get rid of the shrubs and we put in these raised beds.  I took this picture less than a month ago, but with all the warm weather the plants are at least quadrupled by now.  I can't wait for fresh veggies!  So far we've been enjoying the lettuce several times a week.

 And finally--the front yard.  We shoveled and wheel barrowed, and shoveled some more to fill in and raise up the soil.  Then we took a deep breath, visited a local nursery and chose some plants.  We tried to keep in mind how fast plants grow and fill in and plant "light" compared to the last time we did a landscape overhaul out in Snoqualmie.  These plants have already taken off in the past month and I think we'll be pretty happy with the selection.  They are native, so they don't take much care other than keeping them trimmed up the way we want.  Much better than the big rhododendrons that were stuck up against the house before. 

It felt really good to actually finish up a few things before we started tackling new items.  And Tadd and I both will be happy to not shovel any more dirt for the time being! 

Freedom

Old glory--the American symbol of freedom.  Yesterday on the radio I heard this quote from Ronald Reagan “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”  It got me thinking a bit.  Yes, freedom is fragile.  Physical freedom as well as spiritual freedom.  Do you have spiritual freedom?  Have you allowed Christ to free you from the bondage of sin and guilt?  I do.  It might sound over confident to say it--but it's true.  As a child I asked the Lord to take away my shackles of sin and give me the ultimate freedom and wrap me in the loving embrace of Salvation.  No matter what happens to my physical freedom, no one can ever take away my salvation and spiritual freedom.  NOW then, am I doing what I need to do to "pass it on" to the next generation?  Do I pray for my children each and every day?  Do I read the Scriptures with them and live Christ before them?  Not every day I don't.  Many days I'm sure it looks a lot to them as though I'm still living shackled by sin.  But I pray that the Lord will not allow my many mistakes to trip them up.  May the next generation have freedom!
 It has been several years since we were home for the 4th of July--I think since before we moved to Idaho, actually.  The past 3 summers that we've lived back in this area we've heard about the 4th of July parade in down town Bothell and this year we thought we'd check it out.  Folks had started setting up their chairs lining the streets 3-4 days in advance.  I guess it's pretty popular!  We found a spot at the very end of the route. 
The first float that passed us was a Christmas theme.  Confusing.  "Disturbing" a local friend described it. 

 Daddy took pity on Nora and went to help her get some candy being thrown to the kids.  See the empty bag?  That's how it came back after half an hour of trying to obtain one silly piece of candy.  There were a lot kids duking it out for that candy!  Ezra and Caroline threw some elbows and got themselves a few pieces--but they were too far away and engulfed in the crowd of kids for me to snap shots of them.

 Ezra was hoping for bag pipers--he got his wish!

 All in all, the parade was not what we (the adults) were expecting.  The kids had a lot of fun.  We hear that things were a lot more sparse this year than in the past.  Home again, home again we jiggity jigged.  The kids enjoyed "pop-its" out on the basketball pad.  The weather has cooled down quite a bit, you can see by the sweaters being worn.  Everyone acclimated to the heat and now the 70's feels cool to them, I guess.

 The Daddy-Man made shelves for the shed and the Mommy-Girl made some festive supper preparations.  The lemonade was supposed to be blue-ish with red berries floating in it.  It turned out to be pink with blue berries floating in it.  Either way it tasted good.

 This next series of pictures makes me laugh.  All a Mommy wants is ONE good picture of Daddy and the kids.  Instead she gets a flip book of ensuing disaster.  Such is life. 

And they all fell down.  We decided to brave the crowds once again and drove to the Kirkland water front to see the fireworks display.  It felt a bit claustrophobic--but the display was pretty.  And call me a Grandma if you will, but bed at midnight is just not my thing anymore.  Although, soon--very soon--I shall be up partying in the wee hours of the night and morning each and every day.  Ohhhhh.....I'm so not ready for that part of it! : ) 

Keeping Cool

I am a sweaty, messy puddle today, so I thought I'd post some pictures from the weekend to make me feel cool and calm again.  We had planned to take a long bike ride--but the weather took a turn for the hotter and suddenly biking seemed like a rare form of torture.  My Mom suggested that they could put their boat in the water and I said--"count me in!". 

 The breeze on the salt water just can't be beat on a hot day! 

 We packed up and left our house.  Oh?  I didn't mention we'd moved?  Just kidding.

 Grandma and her girls spent most of the day out on the bow.  Nora took a break and came back to nap on the floor for a couple of hours. 

 We saw lots of wild life.  Even Jaws!  There were two groups of Harbor Porpoises that we passed, but I was never quick enough to get a picture.  And several seals said hello as we motored by them. 

 I couldn't hide from Tadd.

 Ezra loves the camera these days.  "Hey Mom, take my picture!" has been coming from his mouth every five minutes (or less) when we're out on an adventure.

 Each of the kids took a turn in the inner tube....a very slow turn. 

 Grandpa and Daddy took turns pulling each other after the kids were done.  They went a bit faster. 

The day didn't feel nearly as hot as it would have on the bike trail or in our house.  As long as we were motoring along, the temperatures were perfect, in fact.  I know that the rest of the west coast is much hotter than we are here--but 90's is pretty hot in Seattle.  I have to say that for the first seven months of my pregnancy I had the following conversation approximately 500 times:
Other Person:  "So when are you due?"
Me:  "August 29"
Other Person:  "Oh how awful!  You'll be so hot and miserable!"
Me:  "Well, I do live in Seattle.  It doesn't get very hot and if it does it only lasts a day or two.  Plus we don't have any humidity when it's hot here.  I had Caroline at the end of July and it wasn't bad at all.  I think it'll be just dandy."
Other Person:  backing slowly away "ooookay."
I guess I sealed my doom.  Warm weather mixed with humidity for several days in a row.  Those of you living around here hoping for a hotter than usual summer--you're welcome : )