Oh My Apricots!

The other day I noticed a small orange-ish colored ball on the ground, only to be reminded as I looked up that it's time for apricots to be a ripening! Last year at this time, we were out of town, then I'd forgotten I had the tree, and when I came outside to see them, all but a couple were on the ground. Not this year! Here's my tree....look closely, it's jam packed with apricots!And here's a few, literally...I have tonz!
I'll be canning as much as I can, I've already made apricot ice cream, and plan on dehydrating some. Any other ideas?? They are so much better than any apricot I've ever bought at the store. And anyone that lives here, or would like to come visit, is welcome to come and get some. Seriously, I pick up at least a few dozen a day.

Oh, and have a happy 4th of July!!!

Mr. Smiles and a Pepper

T-ball is officially over. Our team won every game! (of course they did!) It was pretty fun to watch these 4 year olds "play ball". After the last game the coach gave each of the kids a trophy and a certificate, plus the organization gave all the kids free kids meals to Red Robin! Aige was pretty excited for his trophy! And he got the Mr. Smiles Award, since he could get kinda silly out there and was usually playing around. That's our happy guy!

We have been blessed with a home teacher who loves to garden and has a bit of know-how. After Lane broke his back, one of the things I was worrying about was getting our garden in. We have about a 600 square foot area for the garden and if you'd seen the before you'd know why I worried. Last fall as we were trying the level the yard and plant grass, all the weeds and rocks got dumped into the garden spot. It was a mess. But we had some awesome neighbors come and till it up for us back in May and then over Memorial Day weekend our home teacher came and helped me get it laid out and planted. I didn't know what to expect with all the crap that was dumped into it last fall. But, to mine and Aige's excitement things are growing extremely well. Remember, we planted only 4 weeks ago. Everything was from a seed except green peppers and tomatoes. And check out those beauties!

I picked one off the plant the other night and we ate it! (a darn good omelet!) Growing up my mom always had a big garden, but I guess this being my garden, and my first garden, it felt pretty good to go out and pick something fresh. Plus, today, I noticed the apricots on our tree are getting ripe, and found a good one to eat. I don't remember apricots tasting so good! I'm loving this! It's like getting free food, only better!

Typical

Today, Lane is off to Wisconsin - oh, on a side note, Lane's doing pretty good. No more meds, he flushed them down a toilet on our way to Rexburg a few weeks ago. And he's hoping that he can get his doctor to write him a prescription for a hot tub. They should pay 80%. Unfortunately, he won't be able to water ski this year since it takes at least 6 months to completely heal. And flying is pretty miserable for him. But, at least we've past the half way mark and he finally got the doors back on my cabinets - yeah, remember that project we started right before his accident? Anyways, enough of my rambling and back to my story.

Lane left today and I was feeling the need to leave the house and get the day moving faster. So the kids and I go to the library. Yay, we play and we have fun. Till we get to the car and I can't find my keys. I dig through my bag, I press my face against the windows hoping to see them, and I walk the block back to the library (horrible parking) and look there and ask every person sitting at a desk. So I head back to the car and call Lane, grateful he wasn't suppose to leave for another hour. He's coming to get me and in talking we realize that I took his set of keys for my car. He didn't have any key to my car. Where are mine (Liz's), he asks? I still don't know. Of course, he had to scold me, because the keys to his truck were on that ring and it's the only key, and how much it would cost to change the ignition. Blah, you think I care about that, well I do, but more importantly, I'm stuck out in the sun with two kids! I then start looking through my bag again and there they were, in a pocket that I had checked! I know there is someone somewhere who plays little jokes on me. I cancel Lane, then I realize, since these aren't the regular keys, they don't have a house key. And I call Lane, again, and he reminds me that we have one hidden. So I go home, find the key, and then we head back out as we were going to get a free lunch in the park. After the fun stuff there, we get back in the car (which I left unlocked, for fear of another prank) I picked up the key to make sure I still had it. And we come home. Where did that key go? I didn't see it back where I had originally put it, so I did the look all over for a key again. I was beginning to plot which window I was going to break to get into my house, when I found it sitting in the same slot I'd put it in, only on the other side. That's my life. I regularly misplace my keys. And since I regularly misplace them they are usually in the the same spots. That felt like the longest run-on sentence I've ever written. And now, I need to go find my keys, since we're meeting another temporarily husbandless friend at the park for dinner.

My Little Lynnos

So looking back at my last few posts, I realized that they've all been about Aige. Feeling a bit neglectful, I thought I needed to spend a little time on Evelyn. There are so many things I LUV about this little girl. She likes to get all cutesied up, and she likes to get me all cutesied up too. And for as girly as she is, she can definitely hold her own with the boys. Once, wrestling with Aige and Payton, she had them both pinned. She loves to dance, and I love watching her! She can talk so stinking well that sometimes I forget she's only 2. She's finally getting some hair (yippee)! I don't think there is a kid that loves dogs more than she does. And I could go on and on and on.

LOVE HER!

And her slobbery, boogery face!

T-ball and a Lilly!

Finally! Here's some pictures of Aige's T-ball game on Saturday. He only has 2 games left! I think he's enjoying himself. Of course, when your only 4, playing out in the field is a little boring. They've only been playing 2 innings, allowing everyone to bat, and last batter gets a home run. Here's my little baseball player!

Waiting with the team to bat.
Everytime he bats, it's with a different hand, which is awesome! But I think he's a little more of a natural lefty! Don't ya love those baseball helmets?! Just like all the rest of their uniform, it's a bit too big!


Yes, it can get a little boring out in the field, especially when it's the second game in 1 day (plus team pictures)! These kids (more like parents and coaches) were ready to go by the end of a long day!

Of course, we can't have all these cute little boys without Evelyn right in the middle of them!

And this is random, but beautiful! And it is growing at the side of our house, with many others, some in different colors, along with lots of roses and bleeding hearts! And we've already had our lilacs blooming, which I should have taken a picture of that bush, which is more like a tree. Sadly, Lane wants to tear it down, since it is right next to the house. Ah, but it smelled wonderful!

Where Went May?

The past few weeks have gone by so fast! We've had so many things going on! First, Aige started t-ball practice, first game is Saturday! So I'm only posting the one pic at practice, since I'm sure to take a gazillion at his first game! (I totally remember standing like he is with the mit on my head! - AH! I love baseball!)

I also went with Aige's preschool class to the zoo! Here he his petting a snake!

Wonder how much it'd cost to put a sandbox like this in my backyard, it has "dinosaur bones" in it for the kids to find!

Up close and personal with the tiger, he stood up right after I took this.

Of course, his class, with their lovely teacher, Miss Cathy!

We got ourselves a swing set! I'm so stinkin' excited about this. Sorry the pics are out of order, but I just wasn't in the mood to take the time and move them around. Lane hasn't finished it yet, since I took these pics, it now has a roof, ladder and slide. Yet to come, is a cute cottage area, picnic table, and a rock wall!

I couldn't resist posting this picture. For some reason, I totally can see just how much Evelyn looks like me. :)

My baby sis Debra was in town for the weekend so we got to play with her little baby, Isabelle, who is now two months old, and she sure looks a lot like her mom! Of course, my kids were lovin' on her the whole time.