It is bittersweet when your child is old enough to go to VBS! What a fun stage this is and yet...my little girl is growing up. I wish I could shrink her into the baby that she was for about 30 minutes everyday and enjoy that part all over again.
Here she is with her cowgirl bandanna that she insists on wearing everyday to VBS. On the ride home each day I get to hear about what cowgirls do :-)
The grieving began yesterday when she realized that after today and tomorrow this week of VBS will be over. Never fear, I tell my child. Another friend's church starts their VBS next week...you get to start all over again on Monday! ha.
The timing of these two weeks of VBS is actually great as things are really coming along with the house! Bob-the-builder arrived from MI again to come dedicate ANOTHER week of his life to help us get this house move-in ready. Wow, we are so thankful! He and Jonathan already started this morning working on the kitchen cabinets. But before I get ahead of myself, here are some recent pictures leading up to this week....
The dry wall is completed. Having dry wall instead of exposed logs has totally transformed the inside of the house!
Now the painting can begin.
Downstairs bath painted.
Guest bedroom, painted.
Fan and track-light installation
Fan and track-light installation complete.
Front wall of Karis' room is built.
Looking into Karis' future room.
My man of danger :-)
We picked up kitchen cabinets on Monday! The ONLY day we haven't had rain in several weeks.
If you're a part of my facebook world then you are already familiar with the infamous paneling. Even though I got way more votes to paint vs. leave it...well, the man of the house says leave it. And leave it we shall. For now :-)
I'm hoping Karis' choice of "dress-up" clothes isn't an indication of her future clothing choices.
So here's a question for ya. What do you do when you have so many things going on, including a house being remodeled and 5 sets of company arriving within a week, and you just don't know what to do? If you're me then you pack up and head to a goat show for a weekend.
Totally kidding. Ok, no I'm not. I really did. My friend who owns the goats I care for (when she travels) invited me to join her and her husband to a real goat show! How could I pass up such an opportunity?
The adventure began with an almost 4 hour drive down south....
Then setting up "camp" in a barn with hundreds of noisy goats (I can almost guarantee you that you have no idea the type of sounds that can be emitted from the mouths of goats)...
I wasn't quite brave enough to sleep in the open like everybody else so I took my tent, somehow hoping that my snoring would be muffled by the fabric around me. Fortunately I didn't sleep at all so no need to worry about that.
Morning began with more peculiar sounds (not from my friend's goats but others) and lots of shuffling feet.
Udders had to be checked, fur trimmed, etc, before the show.
First they held the showmanship competitions. This competition is focused on the person showing the goat and not the goat itself.
Here is a pic of the kid's showmanship competition. They were cute.
And here is my friend receiving one of her many prizes that her Alpine dairy goats brought in.
I just have to warn you that through the summer I will probably, more often than not, include something on my gardens. And this post is no exception.
I think if the rain would stop and give us some more sun then things would grow a bit faster but even still, things aren't looking too bad!
I think if the rain would stop and give us some more sun then things would grow a bit faster but even still, things aren't looking too bad!
I am super happy about my dill. I LOVE dill. Dill and I are like little kids and ketchup. I want to put it in everything!
Basil is doing nicely as well...if I don't put dill in a recipe I usually put fresh basil :-)
The garden in the back is doing pretty well.
I have to admit I struggle with a bit of what I call NGE (new gardener envy). In my head I know that this is my first garden, that I could spend a lifetime learning and improving my gardening techniques and yet still...I want the perfect garden. And it isn't always easy seeing the awesome gardens around here! But, I say that because the ONE thing that I feel I am succeeding at...the ONE thing that is thriving in my garden is cucumbers! Oh how I love my cucumbers. Seeing those long, green things laying/hanging around just warms my heart!
Here are a few pics of my Japanese cucumbers.
There are a few problem areas as well.
Like Eggplant.
Oh what could the problem be? :-)
And then I have this one tomato bush.
Can you tell which one has the issues?
What is up with you, my dear tomato plant?
All of the tomato plants started off around the same size. The rest have grown several feet except for this one which hasn't grown at all. Any ideas? I'm lost on this one.
We celebrated our 9th anniversary yesterday! Well, we didn't really celebrate as we had too much going on. But we will...eventually! I am very blessed to have such a great husband, that is for sure.
