Garden Spot

I knew that Chris didn't have much time to help build garden boxes for me, and he was probably just a little bit glad that I was able to find some online raised garden beds through Costco.  They were reasonably priced and probably equivalent to what it would cost if we had purchased all of the lumber separately.

Misha was kind enough to come out and help me assemble all of the boxes.  It was similar to putting together Lincoln Logs, just that easy.  I filled the bottom with cardboard to help with any stray weeds and now hope to get some great dirt to fill the raised beds.

Boutonnieres

I am now the official boutonniere maker for Amy.  Amazingly enough, they are pretty easy to make.  I purchased a rose at the grocery store on Friday and brought it home and set it in some water.  I didn't want to make the boutonniere too far in advance.  Sadly, on Saturday morning, the rose was looking a little scraggy around the edges.  Amy exchanged it for a nicer looking rose and after I pulled off some of the outer petals and greenery, voila! Within about five minutes, it was done.

Prom #2

Amy attended her second prom of the Spring with Brenton.  The first prom was his, this prom was for her high school.  There was a lot of work that went in to getting ready--at least three hours of prep time required.  Her friend Anastasia came over to get ready as well.  And the end result was pretty stunning.

Sadly, Chris and I made a quick run to Denver to check out some treadmills in the two free hours he had on Saturday.  We didn't arrive back in quite enough time to take many pictures.  I had wanted to take pictures outside this time, but the weather just didn't cooperate what with the SNOW and all!  Fortunately it eased off by the afternoon, though it was fairly chilly.

Misha took a few pictures while we rushed to get home and I snapped a few more when I arrived.

And then they were gone.  They were heading over to a friend's house to meet up with their group and where they would take more pictures.  From there, a funky looking van had been rented to drive them to Prom at the Denver Aquarium.  I was actually rather glad they wouldn't be driving so late at night.

After the dance, there was After Prom at the high school.  Their driver drove them back to the friend's house in Mead where they all changed and then drove their own cars to the party.  I believe Amy was home around 3 pm.

I was sleeping on the couch because Chris was sick and I just didn't want to get sick myself.  Amy was a little surprised to see me on the couch, but sat down on the floor and chatted with me for the next half an hour or so.  She was disappointed that many of her friends were drinking, but had a fun time with Brenton.  I loved the time we got to chat.

Alexa

Chris came home from a work conference bringing a new electronic addition that he won--an Amazon Echo.  The device was a hands-free speaker that you could control with your voice, responding to the word "Alexa".  Alexa can tell you a joke, play music, give you the latest weather where ever you want, and could potentially control different aspects of your home such as the thermostat, garage door, the lights.  That's just to name a few.

Kristen has had fun playing with Alexa and asking her silly questions, requesting a joke, or playing trivia.  I use her mainly for music, though I'm not necessarily convinced playing Spotify is better through her or the receiver in the living room.

Treadmill

My treadmill died.  I am super bummed.  However, it has been a fabulous piece of equipment.  I purchased it from a lady in Washington state who had listed it on eBay, however, I didn't want to pay the shipping charges on a 300 lb piece of equipment.  I watched as the eBay listing closed and then the next day, I sent her an email offering her an amount that I was willing to pay which included shipping.

The lady accepted my offer, and instead of paying to have the treadmill shipped, her husband drove it to our new home in Longmont from Washington.  We had just moved in to the Ridge Crest neighborhood and were having a bunch of friends over for dinner when the husband arrived.  It was handy to have a bunch of guys at the house to help lift the treadmill into the basement.  That was in 2001.

In June of 2006, this happened:

A couple of weeks ago was such an awful week.  I was using my treadmill, just cooling down, when all of a sudden one of Misha’s balls was right at my feet.  I had been holding on to the bar fortunately or I might have fallen off and broken my leg.  I couldn’t figure out what happened since Misha was standing at the back of the treadmill.  I thought she had just thrown the ball at my feet.  I had to call a treadmill repairman to come and look (a $100 charge just to show up) and come to find out, she had put the ball under the treadmill belt.  The ball was just the right size to catch the belt, be drawn up to the front of the treadmill and totally ruin the circuit board.  Then because of the speed and friction of the belt it was squished out through a 3/8" space at the front of the treadmill by my feet.  And that’s why all of a sudden I was tripping over it.  That totaled up to a $500 repair bill.

That treadmill moved from that house, to our next house in Monarch Estates, to the rental house, and finally to our home here in Pelican Shores.  I love my treadmill; it has served me well.

National Honor Society

Misha was invited to join the National Honor Society and had her induction ceremony at the high school.  Being a part of the society is a great opportunity for her to learn to serve within the community as 40 hours of service are required each year.  I am always proud of my girls for working so hard in school and for the honors they achieve.

Messages

I was watching General Conference at the beginning of the month.  I had a lot of time to sit on the couch in the living room and look at the decor arrangements on my living room shelves while watching tv.  It took a few moments for the message on the shelves to register.  My eyes were drawn upward to the Christus on the top shelf.  I then noticed the black wooden ampersand on the shelf beneath and directly beneath that a glass block filled with a family picture.  And on the bottom right side, the word HOPE.

Christ and Family is Hope.

She's Twelve

This birthday has been a long time in coming.  Kristen was ready to move on from Primary over a year and a half ago, she has wanted to wear make up for a long time, and she has been looking forward to moving on to the Young Women program at church.  Finally, the special day arrived.

After having some donut holes for breakfast, Chris kindly drove Kristen to school.

I remembered in time that I didn't pack her much of a lunch and was planning to take her something (I did not remember, however, to take a picture when I dropped off her cheese quesadilla from Qdoba).

She got to open presents.

She got balloons.

She loved the donut cake that she had requested.

She got to attend her first young women activity. 

She wore make up for the first time to school.

All in all, it was a pretty good day.  Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Kristen Got a BROTHER for her Birthday!

Just last Sunday, Kristen sat in church and said to me, "I want a baby to hold."  So....we gave her a brother for her birthday.  A Brother sewing machine, that is.  While it wasn't quite the same thing as a baby, Kristen was just as excited.

Spring on the River

I love the look of the bushes and trees along the banks of the river just after a good rain.  The trunks and branches are dark and the look is brilliant.  Yay, for Spring.

Full Service Misha

It is wonderful to have daughters who are driving or are learning to drive.  Part of the lessons come in learning how to pump gas.  Misha is a full-service gas pumper as she also washes the windshield--with a smile.

Senior Tennis Day

Amy has had two new coaches this year.  These coaches have worked hard to whip the program in to shape.  I think we will see the fruits of that when Kristen finally gets to high school.  One nice thing that one of the coaches, Linda Cowley, arranged this year was a Senior Day honoring the graduating seniors.  She had flowers for all of the girls to give to their parents, and created gift baskets and mementos for each of the girls.  It was a short ceremony before their match, but nice.

Amy and Her Braces

When Amy first agreed to having braces last Fall, she told the orthodontist Dr. Lang that she wanted the braces off by graduation at the end of May.  Told.  As she sat in the orthodontist chair today waiting for Dr. Lang to finish with another patient, she peaked at her file, surprised to find a notation "Wants to be finished by high school graduation in May."  She was impressed.

She was even more impressed when Dr. Lang said that she would be getting her braces off at the next visit.  However, they added a power chain and rubber bands to her hardware to make sure her teeth would be sufficiently straight.  I told her the inconvenience and pain would be an appropriate price to pay for them working with her wishes.

Easter Bunny Helpers

Misha had a friend over on Saturday.  I gave her and Julia the job of filling and hiding Easter eggs outside.

They took their job very seriously, unfortunately for Amy.   Amy had 14 blue eggs, Misha had 14 green eggs, and Kristen had 14 purple eggs.  Apparently, Julia was a little too good at hiding Misha's eggs because only 12 were found.  Perhaps they were carried off by the prairie dogs.

My helpers may have used tape and second floor windows to assist them in their hiding.

Even Kristen needed a broom once or twice to reach her eggs.

I suggested to Misha that she could probably hire her Easter Bunny skills out for filling and hiding eggs.  I know Chris and I enjoyed the break.

In Kind Work

Chris has been working on planning, wiring, purchasing, and installing all kinds of home audio and security equipment at our neighbor's house since before Christmas.  It has been a big project, but has helped to pay off some of the landscaping work Mike's landscaping company has completed on our lot.

It has required much time on Chris' part (for which I am grateful) and hoping that he is almost done. 

Chris is skilled at so many things and amazes me with his abilities.

District Art Show

All of my girls had art work featured in the District Art Show this year.

Amy

Misha

Kristen

Backyard Just Got Bigger

We have a back hill on our property that in the past has been a source of much weed growth.  Much.  I hate the look of the weeds.  I hate pulling them.  This year, we extended the footprint of our backyard grass on either side of the pathway, created a terrace on either side of the pathway with planting beds below the terrace, added mulch to the west side and prepped the east side of the lot to be seeded.  I still want to add more terraces, but the rocks are spendy and we will have to add them at a future date.  Let's just say, when you buy a lot with an acre and a half of land, you might want a five year landscaping plan...oh, and plant a money tree.

New Garden Space

Scroll down to the entry Landscape Phase 3 or 4 or... or click on this link here to read about our adventures in landscaping.  It didn't take long for the landscape guys to get started reworking our landscape plan on the west side of the house after it was discovered we were encroaching on our new neighbor's lot.  Though I was watching the guy who was given the job of removing the river rocks and he probably wasn't happy.  He lollygagged around for awhile before starting to move the rocks.

The workers, led by Eduardo who has directed and participated in a lot of the work on our lot, moved the river rocks, built a new berm, planted new trees, dug up posts and repositioned them, stained the garden posts, built a gate, added a water line to the garden, moved two grasses, dug a trench on the far side of the berm, added breeze (crushed rock) to the garden, and more.

We had hoped to do more with our budget this summer.  We'll see how it all pans out.

Before:

After:

My cute garden area: