35!

Happy Birthday John!

I like it when you're older than me.

Garden Goodness

I've been finding interesting things in my garden lately...

Introducing the carrot squid. I may have mistakenly purchased radioactive soil.

Here we have the dancing carrot legs.

Proof that I can grow a normal carrot.

So, what do you do with the millions of tomatoes from your garden? I can only eat a couple fresh a day, and only make so much salsa. With the rest....

I've been making stewed tomatoes. Then I freeze it to be used later in soups and stews. Who ever thought I'd be stewing my own tomatoes? Certainly not me. But, yum. I made stew with my own stewed tomatoes last week, and it was sooo much better than with a can. Just an idea - in case you too are drowning in tomatoes.

Good Job!

Kylie had her first spelling test on Friday. As you can see, she scored %100 - yay Kylie! I wasn't too surprised considering she has known all those words for over a year, but still, I am very proud of her. I think she has a little bit of my nerdiness in her, but she's not quite as bad ;)

John also scored big this week. He received the "personal touch" award at work from his VP. Basically, he made a big customer really happy. He has wanted an i-touch for a little while, so he is pretty happy.

Matthew and I are both awesome too, but so far, no awards. Although, Matthew did get a green good behavior note for his first week of school. If you know Matthew, you know this is a serious accomplishment! Go Mattie! So, I guess that just leaves me in the un-awesome corner by myself :)

Ballerina

Ballet started last week.

And my little ballerina could not be happier. Kylie LOVES to dance.

She also loves to be silly and make faces. She is a goofball. I don't know where she gets it from...

Oh wait, does this face look at all familiar to anyone? Further proof she is my clone :)

For anyone outside my family...when I was little I could not take a regular picture, I was always making a face, usually the exact face Kylie is making above.

Unwelcome Guest

We live very close to the mountains in the foothills. Only a couple streets seperate us from the wilderness. It's not unusual to see squirrels and jack rabbits hanging out in our park across the street. Deer and foxes regularly cruise our street at night. My neighbor has even seen cougars and coyotes walking around our neighborhood in the middle of the day. This doesn't really bother me. But, yesterday, as I went to pick some veggies from my garden, I saw something that disturbed me. A big mouse, maybe a rat, was helping himself to my garden. I caught the little bugger in the act! He hurried his furry bum under my fence as I came after him. Mice and rats give me the willies! There are now a bunch of traps to welcome them if they dare to return. Below you can see the teeth marks from the interupted bite. Ew. Oh, and the tomatoes in the picture are from my garden too - very yummy.

Kindergarten!

Matthew started kindergarten today. He was one excited little boy.

The teacher let the parents hang around for the first little while and do some activities with the kids. Matthew's favorite thing to do is paint, so he was happy from the start.

Doesn't Mattie look so grown up here? Taking Matthew to kindergarten was a totally different experience than taking Kylie. Kylie cried and clung to me, begging me not to leave her. As I was hugging and kissing Matthew goodbye, all he said was "uh-huh, see ya later Mom."

Toothless Smile!

The hillbilly tooth finally fell out. I can't tell you how much I adore her new smile!

I cannot stop taking pictures of her - I just love her new toothless grin.

I think she may be getting a little tired of the camera constantly in her face :)

First Grader

Kylie started first grade last week. (We start in July here because we have year-round school.)

There she goes with her black Hello Kitty backpack. For me, sending Kylie to first grade was much harder than kindergarten. Kindergarten is less than 3 hours a day, pretty similar to pre-school. First grade is literally all. day. long. I miss my little girl! But, Kylie loves everything about school and is doing great, so that makes me feel a little better.

This is what I came home and found after I dropped her off at school. She is such a sweetheart.