House Plants

There are at least two names I can think of for this plant the one I grew up with was Mother in Law Tongue, another on that I have heard is Snake Plant.

From what I know it is rare for them to bloom, and normally they have to be very old. This one is only just a few years old. My mom says hers is blooming this year as well.

Dill

I didn't know Dill bloomed. Last year when I planted herbs Tayler knocked them off the porch accidentally while skating, saying the wind blew them off. Ha, like it wasn't hard to spot that one. Needless to say they never had the chance to bloom.

Jade
This is one of my favorite plants and also a piece from one of my moms. I am so proud of how big it has grown!

Fathers Day

For Fathers Day Josh didn't want us to get him anything. Instead he wanted to build a Fine Bubble Aeration System. We have been stocking the pond and other than rain water we have no other oxygen source. So in order to have a variety of fish and give them oxygen we needed aeration.

Josh made two fine bubble air diffusers. This is one of them.

Josh and Brenden dug this ditch from the garage to the pond.

And then from the top of the levee to the pond.

This is self weighted air hose, so it would not float in the pond.

They used floats to get the "systems" where they wanted them in the pond.

All of the kids went out there to help hold tools and such.

Josh is trying to cut the strings he used to lower them into place, he used plastic chain and a water bottle filled with air tied to each one to be able to located them later if they need work.

Josh and Joshua sharing a float.

The Josh's hooking up the pipes to the air hose.

Hooking the plastic chain to the system.

Bren taking a zip tie back to the bank.

All done enjoying the cool bubbles.

A view from the bank. Our babysitter had not seen this yet it scared her to death bless her heart! She couldn't find Tayler right away and thought at first until she came from the front yard this might be her. She is hilarious and said her next thought after looking out again who ever was out there was doing pretty good to be having all those bubbles.

Joshuas Birthday Outing

For each of their birthdays this year we are taking the kids out with just the two of us. Bren took this for us right before we left. Josh just had to stick his finger in my ear, thats my guy ;).

A stop at Baskin Robbins before our movie.

Cars 2! Joshua won a free ticket in his Cars Blu Ray we gave him for his birthday.

Standing inside the theater.

Riding a bike in the video game area. Josh steered from the back while Joshua worked the throttle.

They earned 5th place not bad for a five year old!

Shopping after the movie at Target. These are the only things he picked to buy with his birthday money, he told us on the way to the car he was saving the rest of his money.

We went to Sams after for groceries. Saturday is sample day and we all always enjoy it! Chicken sandwiches, pizza, fruit, bacon, and so many other goodies. We were full when we left. Joshua hitched a ride on the dog food on the way out.

Tayler and Bren

Our sweet girl!

This is the kids permanent dirt pile. They were so excited!

Brenden

Brenden got his first pocket knife, a leathermen with lots of little tools his daddy bought for him. As you can see he wears it proudly!

I love this picture of Brenden. This is our neighbors dog that thinks he is a lap puppy. He loves playing with the kids when we visit.

Sleeping Boys

Joshua is in the process of outgrowing naps, and tends to fall asleep from time to time before we can get him in bed. This also happens to be the only time he is still!

Little Luke fell asleep while visiting underneath the train travel in the boys room.

I was so proud to get him in the bed without him waking up!

He is almost as big as me!

Water Fight

During Memorial Day James and Jay came out for a visit. There was as always lots of playing Wii, shooting fire works, and this time a water fight! Complete with guns, hoses and the above water balloons. We have since Easter been buying and collecting water guns. Tuesday Jay and I filled up the guns and let the kids have it, they retaliated with hoses and trying to throw us in the pond. I managed to be flung in 3 times. Afterward all four of the kids jumped in willingly and played for hours. Late the same afternoon Tayler and I filled these balloons and had them ready for when Josh got home from work. They were so heavy he loaded them on the back of the truck and drove around to the front of the house. It didn't take long even with Tayler and I in the back protecting the balloons(I planned to stay out of the fight and take pictures)for everyone to get their hands on them and let em fly. I was a bit upset at Josh for moving the bunny cage with the bunny in it via the tractor so I took aim. I didn't hit him but got him riled up thinking it was Jay or Tayler. He jumped in the back of the truck stole a whole basket full and let me have it! Afterward he disappeared into the house coming out with a large bowl saying he had saved some extras. I knew better telling Tayler to take cover. It was a bowl full of ice water! Disappearing once again, I thought he was inside eating the roast that was now ready. I left the others to it. Boy was I was hungry. Walking inside I heard the shower running going in to check on Josh, Andi got caught under my feet and I accidentally stepped on her. As she let out a holler the closet door swung open and out came Josh dripping with sweat. He was preparing for pay back by turning the cold water on in the shower, and jumping in the closet to hide. The plan was to throw me in the cold shower when I came in. He realized when I stepped on the cat I wasn't to worried about being sneaky. He is ruthless! All in all we had a blast!