Sunday, April 17, 2011

Wonderwoman Returns!

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She's ba--ack!

She brought lots of hugs, smiles, and goodies--just like always.

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Like typical little boys, William and Samuel ran and hid in a tree while they were waiting, but good ol' Trevor waited out front...
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We have been very busy.

I was really glad that it is still strawberry season. I had been hoping we could do that with Mom here.

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We put up quite a few pounds of strawberries for smoothies. Yum.

We did Poplar Head work...taking pictures:
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Shipping...(yay! that means we had sales!!)...
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They boys had a big time with the shipping scraps...
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Cleaning...

(Actually, Mom is the only one who has been doing the cleaning. I've had my boo-hiney glued to the computer chair most of the week, and Wonderwoman has been wearing herself out taking care of all the things I have let slide. I may start calling her the Energizer Bunny.)

Mom got a tip from a friend on a cleaning product...and I am so excited about it that I'm going to put it on the blog. (Thanks Norma!!)

She brought this home from Walmart...
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After she used it, I couldn't believe how clean my glasses were! They looked new!
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Look what it used to look like...
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Then I noticed this little picture on the container...
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I never pay attention to stuff like that. I always figure it's a gimmick. Boy, this one, though, is not exaggerating!

Not only that, but my dishwasher looks brand new.

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In fact, it is nearly brand new--we've had it less than a year. When we had been shopping for it, we looked at the marked-down return models. One of the stainless steel ones had this nasty white mess running down from the detergent dispenser. I thought, euw, gross...if that's what a stainless dishwasher does, count me out.

Wouldn't you know, within a couple weeks, I already had that nasty buildup. Well, what can ya do? I just ignored it. Too bad I didn't have a "before" picture.

But...ta da! Clean dishwasher! Yay Wonderwoman! Yay Lemi Shine! :)

Okay, the only other picture I have in my camera is this...

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...I found it out in the yard. Nice!

Guess I need to get out Mom's camera to find more pictures of what we have been up to.

It's so good to have her here...it blesses my heart to have her company and her help. She'll be here 3 more weeks!!!

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Well, I couldn't throw in the towel without checking Mom's camera. Here's a barrage of pictures that she took...(and that I took on her camera...)

The kids have spent lots of time playing on Mom's "Tablet"...
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I took her out to the warehouse to see where Tim works...
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More Tablet time while Mommy works on Etsy...
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(Yes, my desk is a total mess. Actually, it's supposed to be Tim's desk. He is such a gracious husband. Poor Tim. He's so organized, and I'm soooo messy.)

The kids love to make huge, messy forts, using every---single---pillow that they can find. And yes, I'm embarrassed for you to see my totally messy house. I would love to make some excuse and say it's not always like this!, but honestly, it probably is. Sigh... When I get to heaven, maybe my house there will be clean.

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We took the kids to Karate...
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More Strawberry pictures...
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Getting berries ready to freeze...
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We grilled out--nice organic Nebraska beef. It was delicious! Thanks Ericksons!
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We fixed Strawberry Shortcake for dessert...
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Mom talked the kids into helping her clean up the yard by paying them in legos. They did lots of work. I can't count how many times Trevor said now can we go do yard work, Grandma? Here they are with their reward...
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We went shopping at Motherhood and had fun playing with the belly-extender pillow they provide for trying on clothes...it was pretty funny, and hard to believe I'm going to get that big.
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Got a picture in my birthday shirt from Kim before church this morning...
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And we went out to lunch at TGIF. When they were done eating, Tim let the boys go sit on a bench near our outdoor table. They had one rule...they had to sit still with their hands in their laps. It was so cute. They did it!
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Hopefully next week I'll have pictures to show of some finished projects!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Botanical Gardens

How many pictures is too many to put in one post? Surely 10 is okay. 15? 20? Sometimes I sit down to write, and I have 30 or 40 pictures. Good grief! What am I supposed to do with that?

We went to the Botanical Gardens this afternoon. I imported 65 pictures out of the hundred-and-something that were on the camera. I would love to show you every single one...but...that just doesn't seem reasonable. :) That is just way too much blogging, and I need to be finished in time for AFV...that's 45 minutes away.

I don't know about where you live, but around here, it's rose time. Everywhere I drive I see beautiful roses. We were enjoying them on the way home from church, which gave us the idea to head out to see the roses at the Botanical Gardens. They have lots of beautiful roses.

Off we go!
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Now, there's lots of wonderful things to see on the way to the rose garden. Not least among my favorites are the herbs. We love to walk along, pinching the leaves and smelling our hands. We haven't been out to the BG in quite awhile, so I was afraid to hope that they still had one of my favorites...but they did!
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It's Chocolate Mint! What a treat to smell. Is Jesus the best, or what??? Regardless of whether Chocolate Mint is a hybrid or not--I have no idea--it's there. It was right there on God's Green Earth, waiting to be discovered. Aaaahhhhh. What will heaven be like??? He makes the best wine, fries some good fish, and invented mint. sigh... I love him.

Okay, so I was in raptures, and we weren't 15 feet into the gardens. My family really had to be patient with me.

I snuck these in before I had to catch up with them...
Poppy...
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Onion...
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I don't know what...but William says its petals feel like silk (how cute...)
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I caught up with them at the windmill. The pump handle was going up and down all by itself...at least when the breeze was up...and the boys loved the water...
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Look at that smile..."It's sweet Mom!! Sweet!!"
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It took Trevor longer to dive in, but he finally did...
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I love it dripping off their chins...
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On we go... It was fun to watch them following Tim like little ducklings...
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We made our way to the Koi Pond. Samuel liked looking at the fish. He's down on his knees, looking at them through the cracks in the bridge.
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Photo Op...
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Down in the trees, I found this beautiful moss...(er, is that moss? I need some plant geek to educate me). Wish I could have gotten a clearer picture...
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And finally, on to the roses...

I enjoyed practicing with Tim's big lens...
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Beautiful just doesn't seem a full enough word...
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Enter...thesaurus...

Beautiful: pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically
Delightful: causing delight; charming
Exquisite: extremely beautiful and, typically, delicate

Ah-Ha! That's the one...

Exquisite.
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I'm happy to have been able to present you with these gems sans gnats.

The gnats were horrible. Fortunately, there was a fountain...surely put there to bring relief to harassed little boys who must wait and wait while their mother takes just one more picture...
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We were all harassed...
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Tim and I tried to hold still long enough to have our picture taken. William took this one...
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We might have been a little more beautiful if we had had our picture done as soon as we got to the park, and not when we were all sweaty...

We wanted one to use on our new facebook page for Poplar Head...maybe this one will work. Trevor took it...
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And the boys...
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And Trevor...he's really into posing for pictures lately.
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And, back to the windmill and that sweet water...
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(Cool sign...)
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A good ending to a good excursion...
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So, how did 30 pictures treat ya? I've got 2 minutes left before AFV. It may sound silly, but the ONE hour a week we spend watching TV is not to be missed...mostly because we all enjoy it together. :)