My Mu Mu

The dreaded mu mu! I remember seeing my neighbor in her mu mu and thinking I will never wear one of those! It's called a house coat too! Barry reminded me of that when he asked me if it was one and asked, "didn't my mom used to wear them?" Oh boy, poor guy, his wife is now reminding him of his mom in a mu mu! I feel bad for him but when it's hot out, there's nothing like a light weight, cotton, loose dress w/out the bra! I am sparing you all a picture of me in it, just the fabric! I wish I could find more of these, sorry Barry.

Random Yard Stuff

My mom gave me these chase lounges and I nap there in the shade and when I look up a hummer is always perched high on a branch in the tree, I talk to him and he looks at me.
I love how the dew has collected just on the edge.

Climbing roses, I love the color.

A limon!

I like how it is half and half! I can always find something cool in nature. Just look around!

Oh So Muddy

Brandon and Abbey, no we didn't put her in the mud, she didn't feel good, teething.
Kadence is thinking about getting in the mud, not sure.

Dustin and his baby girl swinging. All the "kids" love the swing!

She's in!

Brandon is making rivers so my plants don't drown. I love watching them in the mud, all of them! It brings back so many memories, I did it and so did my boys.

It kept them busy for so long!

Kadence looks like she'd like to run far, far away from this mess.

Love Ethan's mini undies, he needs some bigger ones.

Brandon is going to be such a good daddy. All my kids are good parents.

Yard Sale

Kadence and Grandma, not workin too hard!
Dustin came to help and feed us too! Donuts and burritos stand!
And so did Brandon, he became the price slasher, good thing cause it got stuff sold!

Matt and Barry, they worked really hard on this yard sale.

Barry looks exhausted, poor guy. But he did it all for his brother Walt and is doing it again next weekend. Walt's stuff was really good quality, but of course people want to pay pennies on the dollar for it, so I'd say it was a success and the rest goes on Craigslist, where Patti says there is a seat for every butt and someone will pay what we are asking, a more fair price than yard sale $.

Grow Baby Grow

Did my kids really believe me when I said that if you plant something, pat it and say "grow baby, grow" that anything would grow? I wonder if they said "grow beer, grow"? I was not as emotionally touched when I found these buried as when I find a hot wheel car or an army man that they played with! Different periods of life I guess! Wonder who did it?

And then there is the real garden! It's really coming along and I am tending it every day and enjoying it so much! These are some of the pumpkins that are growing. I am not going to say who's because some people are more competitive than others. I am sure by the time Halloween comes around all kids will have a great pumpkin.

Some of the tomato plants, they have only been in the ground for about six weeks and are getting so big. I have some crook neck squash and little bitty pumpkins between them.

More tomatoes. I have quite a variety, Roma, better boy, sweet 100's, some heirloom, yellow pear, etc. Can't wait to see them. I looked up recipes for canning and there is so much I can do with them. Thanks to the boys for posting everything for me.

My squash is doing really well, crookneck and zucchini. So are my cucumbers in the back. The birds are eating my Swiss chard and my peppers are taking awhile. It's ok though, I am patient and enjoying the gardening journey. Next my boys are going to till a portion of my yard and I am going to plant some dwarf fruit trees. And no I haven't forgotten about the chickens. It takes time to put together a farm, ya know!

They're Not My Dogs!

Every time we get a new pet, cat or dog, Barry always says, don't expect me to do one thing for that animal, not one thing! Here he is...what?? Giving the dogs the dogs their morning treats, not just anything, he buys them hot dogs, 10 cents a dog (he says) per day. They get the morning dog, sliced up and tossed to them and an evening dog just broken in half a tossed. In addition they get food and water twice a day by him as do the cats. When Barry is away he worries that they haven't eaten. He tries not to like our pets, he really does!

My Children, My Cathedral

I loved this post which was on my niece's blog, so I copied it to share with all of the mom's who read my blog. Once you are out of the day to day, all day, hour after long hours of raising your children, you can look at your grown kids and know that they are the important, the long lasting cathedrals that you have built, built with your own two hands, your whole heart, even your very life. What a monument, a tribute to a mother, a decent, kind, compassionate, productive person to send out to all the world.

Go ahead and read:
I'm Invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.The invisible Mom.Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being.I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?'I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And, the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home.And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Mother's Day

I enjoyed the best Mother's Day ever!! I have a running list of things I want the boys to do for me and was I thrilled to get a couple of them get done. Andy and Brandon staked my tomatoes and cucumbers which was a huge job. Then Dustin and Nick showed up to help them make my tire swing. The swing is a huge success, it's exactly what I had imagined and the kids, well look at the pics, they loved it! We ended the day over at Patti's swimming and having dinner. Sadly I forgot about my camera so I don't have any pics of that. Completely wonderful day.