I spent some much needed time on the tomato plants the other day just cutting them back to manageable sizes.  What I discovered was a huge amount of green tomatoes growing.  This might be the best year ever for us!  We sure enjoy being able to have homemade pizza sauce throughout the winter and I think we will have plenty of tomatoes to make some!

This particular tomato plant is the one Lauren has had her eye on.  She and Jack both eat Cherry tomatoes like they are going out of style.  This happens to be the second red one we have had so far, can you guess where the first ripe one went?  Lauren enjoyed it thoroughly and as you can see will have many more over the next few weeks.

I finally picked our first small handful of sno peas today.  They sure are tasty.  I am encouraged to see all the pretty purple flowers since those are the flowers that make peas!  We generally enjoy these in stir fries over the winter.

Tonight I pushed back the leaves of our cucumber plants and found several of these guys.  Looking forward to making bread and butter pickles again with them this year.

And finally I was able to bring in 3 ice cream pales full of green and yellow beans.  This is just the beginning of what I think will be a huge harvest of beans this year.  Which is great because they are a great vegetable to have in your freezer over the winter.  I do have to get them blanched and frozen fast thought because Jack thinks they are candy and would eat them all if I let him!

Gardening sure has its ups and downs and is quite a bit of work but we are thankful for this being just another way that God provides for us.  Come on over sometime and we’ll treat you to a nice meal complete with lots of veggies!

It was a beautiful day and we hardly had any mosquitoes (which for our house is rare!).  Lauren sure had a great time welcoming everyone with a lei as they arrived.  Here are a few pictures to highlight the evening.

Getting ready for our guests to arrive.  Here is the smoothie table all set up and waiting for some “customers”.

These were the lei’s that Lauren would take off and put on everyone when they got here.  Later that night when I was tucking her in bed I asked her what her favorite part about the day was and she told me it was giving everyone their necklaces! 

People enjoying corn hole, volleyball and drawing with chalk on the cement pad while drinking their smoothies.

Our attempt at Hula dancing, lame as it may be, but that’s what you get for an 8 1/2 month pregnant lady and a guy who doesn’t normally dance!  Oh well we sure had fun! 

The other day Lauren had her very first dentist appointment.  We took her to a dentist that is specifically just for kids.  Wow do I ever wish I had that kind of a dentist when I was a kid.  In the waiting room was a giant play area (similar to what a McDonald’s might have just a little smaller), a movie area, and a place to play some video games.  Lauren enjoyed the slide a few times while I was getting her all checked in.  Then a dental hygienist came out, called Lauren’s name and off she went holding the ladies hand and leaving me to wait by myself while she very maturely went to get her teeth cleaned.  I think she even waved goodbye to me as she walked off. 

When they were done with the X-rays and teeth cleaning they let me come back (I asked to come back in the beginning but they said they liked to try and have the kids come in by themselves).  When I got back to the dentist chair she was in she was kicked back with headphones on watching a little movie that was on a screen by the light they use to look into your mouth.  Well, of course she had a great time.  I would too if I got to watch TV while someone brushed my teeth!   

They said her gums look very healthy, no cavities and keep up the good work!  But, thumb sucking really needs to stop (which we knew and have been working on with Lauren for a while).  Now, since coming home from the dentist and having someone other than mommy and daddy tell her not to suck she seems to bee kicking the habit (with a few set backs here and there)! 

People told me, and I knew it would happen, but I guess I was just not prepared.  I have a 3 year old now and she just keeps growing…way to fast.

So with baby number three fast approaching we thought it time to get Lauren transitioned into a twin bed since we will be needing her crib, which she is using as a day bed right now, for baby mushroom (Lauren picked that name!).  So, with Jesse’s mad woodworking skills he went to work on a new bed.

He has a long way to go but Lauren is pretty excited about the idea of him building it for her.  It will end up being a “loft” bed which will have some dressers and shelves underneath it to maximize all the space we can in her small bedroom.  Since the upstairs of the hour has the half walls the loft bed will only end up being about 44 inches high off the ground but plenty tall enough for her to use a ladder which just made her day!  I’ll post more pics once the project is complete….

Then a few days later we ended up ordering a dump truck load of gravel to fill back in our driveway.  Over the past few years that we have been here the gravel has just disappeared!  So, the dump truck came and dumped it off.  We have been working hard at spreading the gravel evenly over the driveway.  It is lots of work and we are almost done but it has been another one of those family activities that brings us all together for some fun!

Lauren helping to rake the rocks to get them evenly spread.  And yes folks she has no pants on, but give her a break it was almost 90 degrees this day and her rain boots are quite fashionable so that should count for something! 

And finally I remembered to bring my camera to the library this morning for Wednesday story time.  They read about pigs today and made there own pig to take home.  It has been really good for Lauren to learn to listen to a “teacher” and interact with other kids her age.  Today was the last time now for a short summer break but we are looking forward to going back in July. 

Listening very quietly to the story.

All the kids and their pigs that they made!

Check out their website if you are interested.  You can even make some yourself!  http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/

Here are a few pictures of what our evening produced!

Tawnya and I sewing

Some of the previous nights work

Lauren modeling one.  She keeps asking me where Africa is so it has been a good lesson for her also in using our time and talents to bless others!

Anyway, last month they did “Ice Cream For Books”.  Each child ages 3-5 that their parents read 5 books to got a certificate for a child sized ice cream cone at the local pizza place.  They also were then put into a drawing to win a $15 gift certificate for the same pizza place.  For every 5 books read to your child you got entered into the drawing.  Well wouldn’t you know Lauren was the winner!  When I told her she had won the coupon she was trilled and has been asking when we can go to Mann-Made to get our pizza and ice cream ever since.  Guess that will be on the agenda to do in the near future!

Here she is all excited about winning!

We sure feel blessed to have been placed in this community.  Thank you to all those that support us faithfully in prayer as well as financially. 

Let the splitting and stacking begin. 

Here it is all unloaded on the edge of our property!

And here is a picture of what we already have.  So between these three wood piles and the new load we are anticipating having enough wood to burn for the next 3 winters!  What a blessing that is. 

Here are some pics from the trip….

Do I look serious? This is why ↓.

Everything came together nicely for the setup and we are excited to see how the Lord will use this course in people’s lives this summer!

Here are some pictures of the wedding for those interested. 

Jesse’s sister Dani made the cake.  It was beautiful!

Decorating

Still dropping flowers on the way back out!

And they’re off!