Summer 2012

Well each of things I will write about, probably deserved a post of thier own, but so seldom does that happen - except in my mind!  Summer has come and is on its way out.  The kids start school this week, and the two schools that I work at have already started.

These pictures are pictures of Jayna and her friend at Del Grossos amusement park.  We went there for my work picnic.  She had such an amazing great time!  Bringing a friend really made a difference.  Sometimes, or perhaps even often, Jayna is the "odd one out" , not having a sibling close to her in age.  So when we do things like this she would end up riding with a semi- interested parent or a semi- interested older sibling.  She had the best day ever hanging out with her friend, and it really changed the experience for everyone.

Here are our two happy teenagers on the same day. 

So the next pictures are of the camping trip Jayna and I took.  I took Whitney by myself when she was younger, and Richard and Andrew have gone by themselves, so now it was Jayna's turn.  I have to say, it is always  give me that "girl power" feeling when I do something like that on my own.  Yes, I can set up the tent, yes I can start the fire, yes I can use the camp stove, yes I can tear down quickly at 7 in the morning before the storm rolls in and yes, I can release many fish after Jayna caught them! Go Sue!  Anyhow we had a great time.  We went to a Jellystone/Yogi bear campground.  I recommend those to everyone!  They have great activities planned and nice facilities.  This one was smaller than the one we camped at previously, but still had plenty to do.  I think Jayna's favorite was fishing.  She had tried fishing this summer near where we lived, but hadn't had much luck.  So she was thrilled when she started catching fish here- with our sub rolls!  She would yell " get the camera" as she reeled in a fish!  I was happy for her.  She swam a lot too as well as playing on the playground, taking a hayride, playing a game, and in the arcade, and reading at night in our tent.  So glad I could do that with her.

The next pictures are of our garden areas.  I loved the rhododendron in bloom this spring.  It was beautiful!  The peonies were beautiful too, when we moved in that bed was completely run over and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I did a lot of weeding and tearing out stuff, especially plants with burrs on them.  It was a lot of work,  I couldn't find a picture of them in bloom, but they were beautiful and smelled so good!  We only planted a few things for our garden this year- I was waiting to see what came up in the peony bed, or if we would make that our garden next year.  But there was a little strip by our garage where we planted tomatoes, basil and lettuce.  They were all successful- yay!

We did some volunteering at the animal shelter this summer. Not as much as I had anticipated, but some.  Andrew and Jayna are defintely cat people and Whitney, like her Dad, is a dog person.  And I ummm, prefer none.

My sister Linda and her daughter Cierra came to visit this summer for a few days.  She introduced us to geocaching and we went to see 4th of July fireworks together.

This is one of my recent favorite thrift store buys!  Cool huh?  I also found a great old mirror that is now hanging in our hallway.  We have a great thrift store nearby and have found some great deals!

The kids also spent some time at Grandma Asheads.  That was good for everyone I think.  The kids all think she is cool and she spoiled them.  Grandmas can be great because all they have to do is love them and accept them.  Andrew and Whitney went together, and Jayna went by herself.  She took them shopping and out to eat and just enjoyed time together.

Richard did an amazing job on our steps and hallway.  It was so much work- I think it was about 45 hrs. worth and about 6 gallons of paint- just for the hallways and steps!  Pair it with the picture of our living room and maybe you can see where we are going with our house. So far the formal LR has been done, the hallway and steps, downstairs 1/2 bath and the girls bedrooms have been painted. Still lots to do, but I think we are done with projects for awhile.

So that's a lot of our summer, I am really hoping for a good school year.  Jayna will be in 5th grade, Whitney 10th and this is Andrew's senior year. 

And so it goes....

Just read " Little Bee" by Chris Cleave