Happy 4th!

Had a great looong weekend celebrating the 4th and just hangin out together. Pete was able to be off work the weekend thru wed so it made for a nice little mini stay-cation. With the crazy windstorm starting off the weekend on Friday, we had some unexpected but enjoyable experiences.

Saturday we took a little day-trip to Cleveland to visit our dear friends and their adorable little guy. Spent the day eatin yummy food and checkin out their new beautiful home. As we headed home really late that night, we got a call that our other dear friends were out of power and their little guy couldnt sleep! Although, bummed for them, I was really excited to have unexpected houseguests! I love that. They stayed through the afternoon on Sunday and then Sunday night, Pete's sister and her family came to cook dinner and do a little laundry at our place as they were out of power too! We enjoyed an evening with them and spent Monday and Tuesday working hard on the patio.... almost done (pics to come later). For the 4th we were invited to share the afternoon with a cookout at the neighbors and finished the day's celebration at the Westerville fireworks with Nana & Papa. It was a stuffed-full weekend but tons of fun. Thanking the Lord for a cool house and the ability to use it to help friends and family...such a blessing. Also thankful for some time to just enjoy Pete bein home with us...always love that - still soak up every second I can with him and our little family.



my little sparkler and my little firecracker:

remae seemed to LOVE the fireworks... with some hilarious commentary through the whole thing: "wow, that one was really big" and "sooooo preeettty" after EVERY one plus things like:

 "i wanna take that one home with me"

"oooh that looked like a strawberry"

"that was pretty loud"

"im really scared...crying like a baby" (not crying at all)

"i dont like this.... ohhhh that was pretty!"

"that one is probably really hot"

"ahhh i think they are falling on me!!!"

"they are all circles... i want a triangle one!"

"mommy...thats not thunder..it sounds like it, but its not"

daddy-daughter-date-night

Tonight, the girls got all fixed up in their cute little summer dresses and were swept away by their date..... daddy. Pete picked them up right after work and took them over to the Chick-fil-A daddy-daughter-date-night. It was so sweet... they had "reservations" and the tables were covered with a nice cloth, flowers, placecards, etc. They had their picture taken and got special little prizes. Their date, of course, included a LARGE portion of ice cream from daddy :) and then a trip to meijer. They were so wired and excited when they came home, telling me all about it. 

Looking forward to their many more dates in the future......... with DADDY!  :)  (if i could triple underscore that, i would)

happy daddy's day!

Celebrating Pete's 5th Fathers Day! I love fathers day... truly, I love it. I am blessed enough to have what I believe is the most amazing, perfectly-suited-for-me, totally awesome, best dad ever... AND I've got that same kinda dad for our girls. What a day to count my blessings and totally love up on them both. Here's a little recap, pic-style:

girls workin on their homemade puzzles and cards for daddy

how cute are these?! our little crafting session turned out great!

of course, must do somethin yummy! carrot cake is one of my dad's and pete's favs so carrot cake cupcakes it is:

daddy with his breakfast in bed, opening cards from his girls :)

putting together his puzzles...

Father's Day lunch at my parents:

 papa putting his puzzle together too:

 and his new hat :)

 what an awesome daddy - completely loved by his girls

 always able to make them laugh

still daddy's little girl:

We also got to spend a little of the evening with gram & poppi and share some of the father's day cupcake love :)

Verses I feel truly embody Peter as a father and ways in which I know the Lord will continue refining him over the years. One thing I know for sure: He was picked and planned as the best dad, perfectly fit to be Ellia's and Remae's daddy and I couldn't be more thankful for such a wonderful partner in our parenting assignment.

Proverbs 22:6 - "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Ephesians 6:4 - "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Psalm 103:13 - "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him"

Genesis 18:19 - "For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him."

edmonds garden update

so far...so good! my little backyard veggies seem to be really happy :) I've surprised myself (and even my mother) at so far being able to keep up with watering and caring for them. Check out the latest growth in the edmonds garden :)

 happy tomatoes & potatoes:

 first little tomato:

 potatoes are gettin huge!

 string beans goin crazy:

 huge broccoli and lots of onion

while pete was away......

growing up, we had this sort of unspoken tradition of doing some kind of nice surprise for a family member whenever they happened to be away for whatever reason. it was never a requirement, just seemed to happen on its own. whether it was just cleaning up their room, organizing something for them, buying them a little gift, or tackling a project they've been wanting done, we always seemed to do enjoy doing a little something special. to this day, i can't seem to pull myself away from this tradition. so when pete informed me of a 2-day work trip to canada, the wheels started turning. I will say, as much as I HATE having him away, i haven't stopped moving, barely off my feet till now (about 2 hours prior to his arrival home).  I am exhausted but MAN have I been productive. And don't get me wrong, I never could have finished it all without my mom and dad's help (but lets not forget, they are the ones that instilled this tradition in me so they can't expect much less :) Here's a quick run down of the highlight accomplishments "while pete was away" :

General projects:
Laundered every stitch of clothing in our house minus the clothes on our backs.
Not just laundered, but put it all away.
Completely cleaned/organized our master bedroom, closet and bathroom.
Total inside clean of my car.
General clean of the rest of the house.

Special projects:
found a great deal on tv for our room (which he's been wanting for a while)
shopped around and found a thin, perfect little table stand for it
sanded down and painted the table
rearranged the room a little and set it all up (working cable and all ;)
made a fresh strawberry cream pie for his late-night arrival

oh and I don't want to fail to mention the fact that the girls were cared for, fed, rested, played-with, etc.... i promise i did NOT lock them away for 2 days to get my work done ;-)

ok so I realize there are cords everywhere and tags still on, etc. there are definite tweaks to be made, but don't forget, we're talking 2 days!! Plus, since he's a guy...I wanna give him the option of picking out his own tv, if this isn't what he wants. Overall though, I'm very pleased!

Yummmy fresh strawberry cream pie (at least I hope its yummy!).... can't wait for a slice of this with a little ice cream with the hubs when he arrives.

I missed my man, especially with no phone service from canada :(  but I completely enjoy a little hard work to make him feel extra special, loved, and appreciated. Plus its a little tip for making the time go faster.... fill all that time up workin hard and before you know it, their home!

T-minus 2 hours till reveal time :)

Forest Green

so what do you get when you mix black and green??? my thumb.

Its alway been black as night...but im on my way to green, so were currently somewhere in the "forest green" spectrum ;) We are starting small this year to see how we do. Found these awesome raised beds at costco and added our own fencing...finally got it all done! 

On the Edmonds crop menu this season:

Tomatoes, Red Potatoes, Broccolli, White Onions, String Beans, Basil, Thyme and Oregano

Here's hopin I don't kill it all like I've been known to do with...every other plant! At least I've got two very eager little waterers runnin around to help me.  :)



Our Vegetable & Herb Garden:

next up on the home project list: patio!

another precious mommy moment

highlight of my morning.... I love my job :)

my heart melted as I watched, listened and secretly recorded (for a total of about 7 minutes) my girls as they colored away singing "this is the day that the Lord has made" this morning. completely in love with them and their sweet innocent spirits.