Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The greatest series ever. At least, I think so. I'm happy, my kids are happy. I feel complete. My kids have their mother back and my husband has a wife again. No more books to get a hold of. No more death... (At least we all hope.) Only laundry and dishes and my family and sweet Jesus. I wish I could talk about the book but I wouldn't ever want to ruin it for anybody.

My kids start school next week. We're all excited. I'll take pictures and post them. Until next time...

Softball

Remember when I said I like balls? I like softball. A few weeks ago for our Wednesday night church we met at the park and played softball together. The last bit we let all the kids take turns batting and running the bases. It was so cute watching them try and hit the ball. Then, as soon as they hit it we would scream, "RUN! RUN!" and they'd run for dear life. They had a blast. Here are pictures of my kids taking a turn.

I love that I have my own mit. The first mit I owned got left at Delano Bay by Adam Langford the weekend we had Izzy and the Langfords took care of the high school retreat for us. This is my second one and it definitely didn't get used enough this summer. That's for sure. I need to to throw a ball today. I won't because it's raining but maybe tomorrow. Let's have a ball throwing day tomorrow. How many of you will throw a ball? I will!

More pictures and an update

We had a fun weekend this last weekend. Our friends Christy and Cheryl from Oregon came with there five kids collectively and stayed from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. We took Kaylin and Blake's pictures while they were here as well as a picture of my kids all together which is a most difficult project when the mother is the photographer! It was so great having all of them!

After they left we took a family nap together and I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Turns out I ended up feeling a lot under the weather and threw up three times during the night and once in the morning. I felt completely horrible for most of the day yesterday with my head pounding and my stomach and back aching like crazy. Emma was so sweet and fixed the kids' breakfast. Ben had no clue I was sick and got up early for a 7:30 meeting. He came home later in the morning and brought me saltines and gatorade and fed the kids lunch.. After another meeting he came back and took care of the kids who were destroying the house (in a creative way) and gave them some more food and a little extra guidance. Once I was feeling stable enough and brave enough to try tylenol on a slightly empty stomach, I felt so much better. I think I am on the up swing now but will definitely stay in today and be still as much as possible. Time to have some toast!

Jessica's Photo Shoot

The Winner!

Well, if you didn't get to vote, I'm awful sorry. But the winner is...
...in this order...

Chelan Metcalf, earning first place with... the tree base...

Jennifer Ries, in second place with... sailboats...

and Chelan Metcalf, in third place with... the rowboats

Thanks for playing. Good night and good luck!

Friendly photo contest

So, my friend Chelan came to spend the day with me and we had an impromptu photo contest. We both shot an even number of pictures and now you will be the judge as to the true winner. Please pick your top three and we will narrow it down to the blue ribbon winner. Don't try and figure out who shot which pictures. There's no playing favorites in this game! Enjoy and vote with confidence!

Suggestions?

Alright. I need some advice. This is my front door. To the left is a covered car port. There is cement and wall. How can I make my front door area welcoming and pretty when I don't have dirt or rain or sun? What do I do with that empty
space next to the door? There will be a surprise for the best and least expensive idea...