Slicker Than a Greased Pig

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Last week Ben was out with the boys, I was playing on our computer, and KATE...

Ben thought I was watching her

I thought she was outside with Ben

Actually, she was in our bathroom greasing herself up with 3/4 of a container of Vaseline.  Not only was Vaseline 1/4" thick over her ENTIRE body, it was also all over the floor, all the drawers and doors, toothbrushes, deodorant, my brush...etc.

Oh my!  I seriously did not know where to start!

So here she is happy as a lark, a greasy lark!

Rub, a dub, a scrub, scrub, scrub!!

She's had greasy hair and silky soft skin for a week!

As for my bathroom???

Anyone know where I can get a new bathroom rug  on sale??

Here's a look at my first...EVER attempt at landscaping!

Ben and I decided that we wanted to put in some pretties in our front yard, so off I went to the library (since I have not the slightest clue about anything that grows) to begin my in depth research project.  I had the greatest time learning all this plant stuff!!  With much deliberation and help (THANK YOU, Mrs. Lapiska), THIS is what I decided on:

BUT FIRST... we have to clear out all the grass

 (bear with me, because I am SUPER excited about all this!  There are a billion pictures capturing every possible angle - but they're ALL pretty!!!)

So instead of just taking out the grass, my husband who LOVES a nice lawn, decided to transplant the grass to the barren volleyball court in the back (MASSIVE PROJECT).  But, it looks great now!

This is our first load of dirt - 

"13 bags ought to cover it"... WE THOUGHT!

We went back and ended up with 52 bags total!!  We were slightly off!

Here it is all finished - aerial view

I should have flipped the picture on the top horizontal to make the "L" shape

Lilac bush and Palace Purple

"Little Princess" Spirea

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Hydrangea

Black-Eyed Susan Vine

These flowers line the front stairs.

It wouldn't be summer with out tomatoes!  

... and basil

Now for the back...  I know, I'm excited too!

My wonderful husband planted these sweet little pansies when I went to Colorado in April!

Still mourning the utter failure of last years pumpkins, I decided to fill this space with goodies from the yards of my friends:  

THANK YOU:  Joy and Don and Katrina!!!

This little rose bush root I snagged from the Hines is sooo happy here and has grown and grown.

This one...

not so happy here!

I love this and can't wait for it to take over the entire bed!

OK, so I know you dear readers could not have possibly enjoyed all those pictures as much as I did, but thank you for humoring me!  I have been surprised at how much I enjoyed this project and can't wait to do the other side of the house...NEXT YEAR!

Family CATCH-UP:

I'm a little behind on our most recent adventures.  The next few posts will highlight our fun and projects  - even a little humor for those of you who enjoy an occasional giggle -at the expense of these crazy kids!!

We had a BERRY GOOD TIME... 

In the Driving Rain!!!

This great strawberry patch we found last year.  We were looking forward to another picking outing with some friends, the FRENCH'S...but the patch CLOSED due to a so-so crop.  Boo-hoo!  I got an e-mail from "the farmer" announcing that the patch was open for 2 days!  THIS was our chance.  Of course, I read the e-mail too late for the first day.  The next night happened to be our school's graduation (which Ben was participating in).  With all that in mind, we decided to "risk" it for some yummy strawberries.  CRAZY??  YES!!  Ben came home a little early and we jumped in the car, fought through Friday afternoon D.C. traffic, arrived at the patch with 30 minutes to pick what we could.  The kids had a great time, even when it started to sprinkle.  Luke was the first to chicken out, so I took him and Kate to some shelter.  Ethan, who decided he was "brave" like daddy, joined us when the sprinkles turned into a downpour.  Ben was the hero and made sure we came home with a few more than 13 strawberries!!  

We even made it back for graduation with time to spare!  Whoo-hoo!

Below is BEN, the SUPER BRAVE DADDY who picked all our strawberries while the kids and I watched from the greenhouse!  The boys thought he was SUPERMAN!

BEFORE the rain:

KATE: Stopping for a little SNACK!

Ethan and his sweet smile.  KATE in the background, shoving another strawberry in her mouth!

ANOTHER!

There's a city-slicker!!   Yee-Haw!!

One for the road!

BIG fish little fish

We've had a fish tank for quite a while now. A few fatalities now and again, but for the most part it's a nice fish home (after the fish get used to being on top of a dresser that gets opened and slammed shut 800 x's a day). The boys have enjoyed the process of flushing dead fish and buying new fish.

A few weeks ago, it was QUIET in the house... dunh, dunh, dunh! We found the boys on a chair with the fish net trying to scoop out a dead fish. Water and rocks were all over!! In the process they uprooted all the pretty little plastic plants. It was at this time that I decided that the fish tank fun was finished. All that was left was this big ol' fat and ugly fish that pooped these 6" long turds...all the time. He was definitely the least favorite of our fish family. A few weeks went by and I still had not done away with the tank. The poor pooping fish was all alone and in the dark because I kept forgetting about him. It was one night as we were putting the boys to bed when I felt bad for the thing. I was dropping a few flakes of food into his cold home when I saw...fish!! Lots and Lots of fish! Tiny little baby fish!!! The fat, ugly, pooping guy was really a fat, ugly, pooping momma!! AWWW!

There are probably close to 25 of these little babies all swimming around in the plastic plants - which hid them, no doubt, from the hungry jaws of their momma!

Ethan gets a big boy BIKE!!

Before Ethan could get his bike, he had to memorize Psalm 100.

Here we go!!!

Ok, so he's a little excited about the bike.
As you can see, he even EATS in anticipation!


INJURY REPORT THUS FAR:
These may seem trifle, but they are MAJOR injuries to Ethan!
This first little "nick" on his thumb looks little, but it bled like he cut off his finger!! When Ethan saw the blood pouring from his hand, he was sure he was done for!

It was a rainy day and Ethan just could not keep off that bike, so he rode circles around the ping-pong table. Apparently, he ran right into it. Neither Ben nor I saw it, but from Ethan's reenactment, we figured that's what happened. Ben and I had to conceal our chuckles as we brushed off the bunches of eye lashes from Ethan's cheek and shirt.

The first of many scratches! A basic wipe-out!

Ethan has surprised us! He keeps at it despite the wounds he has incurred! It will be a fun summer once he figures out that HE is the one driving!! Practice, practice, and patience as it took about 35 minutes to make it around the block today!!

We may have to pick up some pads...and a face mask! Hee Hee!!

Luke's SUPER Birthday!!

3 YEARS OLD!! The Cake:

Luke requested SUPERMAN for his cake this year. I was ready with a simple design that I could COPY exactly from a picture (like always - I have NO artistic ability!), but Ben insisted that it be "the man". SO, as you see here BEN did the artistic outline of "the man" while...

Yours truly filled it in - easy cake!! Hee Hee!!

... with a little pesky help from KATE - of course!!!

The FINISHED cake

Now for the PARTY!!

A little photo shoot with the happy 3 year old!

It took 3 tries, but he got them all out!

Ethan told Luke: "Lukie, you know how you blew out my candles on my birthday? Well I'm NOT going to do that!"

Happy Boy!

Luke wanted Superman's head of course!!

Ever run out of tape on a birthday??? Painter's tape to the rescue!

Time for presents!

The Doodle Pro from Grandma and Grandpa Hatch

and "The Joker" (thanks mom for encouraging their obsession with bad guys!)

Bath toys!

and the Smith family PLAYMOBILE EMPIRE grows!!

Putting the castle together

After opening a few birthday cards with a gift card for more goodies from Grandpa and Grandma Smith and some cash from the great grandparents, we played for a short while, took a quick scrub in the tub, and headed for bed. A full, fun, and LONG day!!

Happy Birthday my little LUKE!!

This is Luke this morning at 5:30 AM diving right back in where he left off!

Another LONG day ahead!

I think someone little got a hold of the camera!

cock-eyed hallway

an up close of a pillow...
and I'll spare you the other 18 or so random shots.

The photographer caught a glimpse of himself:

LUKE, there's no mistaking those chubby toes!!