Jer's New Bow

Jer and Mike made a beautiful new bow yesterday at the shop.  Check it out:

He was kind enough to let Jen try it, along with his target!

Jessie's bored...

Today, I got out of the shower and, as I do, I called out to Jess (who was home alone) to check in.

Me: "Jess, how are ya doin'?"

Jess: "Great!"

Me: "Whatcha doin'?"

Jess: "...Well, technically, I'm not doin' anything!"

hmmm...

The Ukelele Performance

Jer Plays the Uke!

Jeremy's class played their ukeleles in an assembly-concert this morning.  They did a great job.  Jer has been practicing hard and LOVES it!  (Special note:  the ukelele he played was my mom's.  Gram got it for Christmas her 5th grade year.  It's so beautiful, and it's 60 years old!)

Jessie's Big Day

Today was a big day for Jess.  She graduated from Kindergarten this afternoon, and she had her end-of-year ballet performance, Once Upon a Time--Swan Lake, this evening.  Both were fabulous!  I am so proud of her!  Here are some highlights:

At graduation:

Jess with her teacher's aide, Mrs. Jespersen, and her teacher, Miss Coburn!

Kambree, Jess, Gwen, McKade, and Ava

Jess, Kam, McKade, Gwen, Ava, Ellery

Ellery & Jess

Jess & Adelaide

Kaya & Jess...

And at the ballet:

'Twas a fabulous day!

Garden Updates!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

Here's how it's looking today...

In the iris patch...they're in full bloom. They smell heavenly--like candy!

I also added some salvia and a few annuals this spring.

I found out last year that we have a very fertile patch on the side of our house, so I've repeated tomatoes there...and added peppers and lettuce seed...  This is fun to see, because I just removed the walls-o-water yesterday!  (The plants loved them, and I loved being able to plant early without having to always cover them on cold nights!)

My first plantings of peas are getting bigger, the herbs have done fine through the cold spots of weather (thanks to the "hot caps" I got for those freezing nights), and the first lettuces, carrots, and green onions are starting to pop up.

I've just planted my second set of peas,  zucchini squash and yellow squash, and (new this year) walla walla onion starts.  In the back box, the raspberries still aren't tall (still trying to figure that out), but the leaves are much bigger this year, and we have a lot of little berries coming on...

One last revisit to the iris...yum!

To be continued...

Mother's Day

The kids made sure I had an absolutely PERFECT Mother's Day.  I loved it!  They really did make me feel special.

I woke up this morning to a delicious breakfast prepared by Jen (with help from Jess).  The serving tray included wheat toast (thanks, girls!!!), cereal, oj, and milk.  There was also a wonderful card made by Jess and lovely flowers from Jen.  Ahhhh.  They even presented me with Godiva chocolate and Mikes (not Mike and Ikes!) from Jen and Mike.

When I went downstairs, I found the entryway decorated--one of the arches was covered with a line of balloons.  On them, there were letters spelling "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"!  (Deco compliments of Jer & Jess.)

Everyone got themselves ready for church, so all I needed to worry about was my own preparation (and the angel food cake I was making for my mom!)

Just before we left, Jonathan made one of his stellar fruit smoothies.  What a perfect tide-me-over through church time! (He also provided me with the links to 2 rather "motivating" YouTube videos...)

At church, Jess was absolutely delightful singing her primary songs.  I so love listening to the kids sing on Mother's Day.  It never gets old.  They're so precious.

After we got home, I had a meeting, but the kids all took care of themselves and got ready to go.  Jess kept asking what she could do next to help me.  Jer and Jess even prepared the strawberries to go with our cake.

We visited Gram just after the meeting--and we spent a good couple of hours with her, visiting, enjoying cake and strawberries (and macaroons from her!), and playing games.  The kids are always asking when we are going to get to go visit again.  They love to spend time with her, and we all enjoyed the visit.

When we got back, it was time for Jeremy's long-planned surprise.  (He had been looking forward to doing this for me for some time...)  He ran up to my room, made and fluffed the bed, set out a delectable assortment of goodies (popcorn, a fresh fruit salad, a piece of cake, frozen gogurt, and a bottle of water), and began my movie.  I put on jammies and got settled in to watch "We Bought a Zoo" with him (I hadn't seen it yet).  We had so much fun, and I loved getting to stop and relax!  As a bonus, during the course of the evening, he presented me with gifts (a scented candle, a necklace with a little photo of him on it, and a "nap mask" to cover my eyes!)

During my movie time, Jen and Mike made a grilled steak and potatoes dinner served on a beautifully decorated table (by Jen).  It was so nice to not have to worry about dinner getting done!

I'm risking hurting feelings here.  I know this kind of day is so rare and special, but the kids really worked hard to make this.  Seriously--it was a perfect day!  Love you guys so much--thank you!!