Summer

It is officially summer now! The big kids are in their final week of school. Finally. It feels like they are the last ones to get out of school. Colorado kids have been out for almost a month already, but my kids won't go back until after Labor Day instead of mid August.

I have to admit I have been in a quilting slump. I don't know why. I have a ton of projects to get done and a few things I want to do, yet they all sit there unfinished. What's up with that? I figured with my break from school I'd be a quilting fiend. Gotta get my groove back.

I've read a few books... I've taken a trip to Denver for a funeral... I've spent time doing fun things with the kids too... and this week, Daniel is in Israel for work. Yes, he's in Tel Aviv, Israel for 5 days. We took him to the airport on Father's Day. At least he didn't have to fly coach. On our way back we swung by the grocery store for some milk. I saw that organic strawberries were on sale, $5.00 for a 2 lb container! I had thought I wouldn't be making strawberry jam this year because we didn't go picking, but if they were that cheap then I could do it! I grabbed 3 containers. Two for jam and one for eating, of course!

Hannah was my trusty helper. Seth smooshed some berries for us but that was about all he could do. He sampled some too. I really love that Hannah wanted to do this with me. I love that my mom and I got to can together. Will she love it too?


To enjoy this last week of school and get a dose of summer we've had some fun afternoon trips. They have silly half days all week. Yesterday we went to Great Adventure. The big kids had a blast but Seth didn't fair so well. He got tired and cranky. Today, we went to the beach. The water is still cool, 67 degrees, but you can still get in. The waves were pretty big as the tide came in. We had a good time and everyone tried to bring home half the beach in their swimsuits.

My mom and I talked this weekend and she asked how my garden was doing. Wanna see?

Zucchini.

Tomatoes and Simon's shoes in the background.

Pumpkin, that Seth convinced me to plant off to the side. I kind of hoped the seeds wouldn't take...but they did.

Many more things are growing. We've got cucumber, basil, green pepper, tomato, zucchini, bush beans, and snap peas. Oh, and the pumpkin. The whole garden is still quite small, growth wise that is. We got it started a bit late and most of these veggies won't yield until mid-late summer. I wish I had more room for other squashes too! Next year, maybe.

And Mom, these last two pictures are for you.

The plants you helped me plant are doing very well.


My rock...


Well, I better go put my kids to bed! I'm going to sew tonight... I swear...