Just for the Record

Trav wanted everyone to know how much he loves three-day weekends. I agree with him!!

We have had a busy three-day weekend celebrating Rozzie's 14th birthday. However, I must first post a picture of Morgan's hat. She knit two of these. The pattern is call "The Jayne Hat" and the hat is from a certain TV sci-fi show that Sara would now. Yes, Sara, we have the pattern. Morgan did it in her favorite colors and in the process, she learned how to make a pom-pon.

Rozzie finally turned 14. She was one of the last holding out with 13 while all her friends went to church dances and all that. We had some friends over for a taco dinner and she opened her presents of a little purse (from Ewings), new sock yarn, a mini hair straightener, and a new phone. She is very happy to have texting privileges, although they can be rescinded.

Today is Memorial Day and like many others in Florida, we went to the beach. It is very colorful when so many are there. You look down the beach and every one's umbrellas are so colorful and pretty. I love it! It was windy and it looked like the storms were going to come, but they never did. It was sunny right over us! We took stuff to grill. The Collard's met us there with their little hibachi. What a perfect day. The girls went off in search of sea creatures and were not disappointed. They found lots of jelly fish. I like this one with the blue tentacles. Apparently the girls love it too!!

With Rozzie's beach day being on Memorial Day, a few girls couldn't make it, so she just had three friends and it turned out to be just right.

Rozzie wanted a cookie instead of a cake so I made one and we toted it to the beach. I was afraid we were going to open the box and see a mess of melted icing. However, it was in perfect condition!! So, happy birthday to our Razz-a-ma-Tazz!!

On a side note, one of Rozzie's friends that came to the party is named Harriet. I have always done the "Harr--ee--it" from "So I Married and Axe Murderer." But the other night I said something about "Rozzie and Harriet" and it struck me that for 2 or 3 years the whole "Ozzie and Harriet" didn't even register!! Rozzie said that her Social Studies teacher always calls them "Ozzie and Harriet." I'm usually right on those things and yet I missed this one by a long shot!!

Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow

LOOK!! It is growing!! At the back center, you can see that we need to get some serious poles for our beans. I don't know that we'll get much iwth carrots, and one pea plant died. But everything else seems healthy. Peppers are coming along, too. And the cukes!
And look! A reddening tomato! I'm so excited to eat it. However, there are concerns. The flowers on the plants keep dying, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear from you. There is one other tomato (you can see it right behind Ol' Red). I'm still so happy that we have some food growing.

This, my friends, is a soy bean. It is the only one, so far, but it is there and it means success. The girls want to have edamame. Now I just have to look up how to prepare it and if edamame is just steamed beans. So much to learn. Isn't it adorable?

And here is a picture of the cucumber flowers. Aren't they lovely? I can't wait to have fresh cukes for salads!

That is all for now on the garden. Next up is a quilt I made for my new nephew, Austin Hawley. It was actually done awhile ago, but as he was just born and the quilt just sent off, I couldn't very well post it until now. It is very soft - minkie fabric and I love the colors. It is a very simple pattern, but the minkie stuff was a booger to sew!! The bonus is that I get to meet Austin in just a few weeks!!

Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked and Swam and Danced!

We are getting down to the wire for Girl's Camp. This year ALL THREE of the girls will be at camp and I'll be there too, as a Level 2 Camp Crafter - - I teach them all the stuff from the camp manual that they need to learn to pass off the level. We are going to a different camp this year. Our stake was newly created last June and so we have two sets of traditions to blend. We had difficulty finding a camp due to our late arrival (not born yet). We found a camp up in Georgia that is on a barrier island. It should be nice to have a constant sea breeze. The camp itself is in the salt marshes so there is no beach. The camp takes up the whole island (it is rather little) and there are no hiking provisions. So the leaders planned a pre-camp hiking activity at Anastasia State Park. We had a lot of girls show up and we all got our hikes passed off!!

I took my contingent on a 5-mile hike and we tromped around for 1 1/2 hours. It was hot, but the sea breeze really makes it tolerable. The girls were all very well behaved. I walked and they followed. I had a few other leaders along and they were interspersed with everyone else, then one lady brought up the rear. Morgan hiked along with the 4th year girls - Morgan is a 6th year Youth Camp Leader (YCL). Rozzie was with my group - the 3rd and 2nd levels went together. And Maddie went on her 1st year hike. Someone in their group had a camera and I found this picture on Facebook. here is Maddie reading a sign.
We gathered at the park at 8:30 (I had to leave the house at 7 to get there on time!!) and we were off to hike around 9. After the hikes, there was lunch provided by the camp cooks. And after lunch....beach time!!

We stayed at the beach until 1:30 and then had to leave so Rozzie could shower and primp for her 8th grade dance. The hike activity was a great success and I'm so glad to have the hike out of the way before camp!! We are all sunburned and everyone was talking about it at church today.

I mentioned that Rozzie had her 8th grade dance last night. Here is a close up of her beautiful face and gorgeous hair.

Here she is with all her friends as they get ready to go off in the royal mini-van. She had a grand time. They all went to Steak and Shake afterwards for Shakes (maybe some got steaks, but Roz did not). I guess this means she is ready for high school!

And for those who think we let the garden go, LOOK!! Not all of it is dead! Some plants died, others lived. The girls continue to water it and care for it. Progress is being made!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom!! You were a great example to me in so many aspects of life. I can't thank you enough for the many lessons I've been taught. So now I'm the mom and I hope that I'm doing a decent enough job. I'm pretty happy with my kids so far, so that is positive. I have loved being a mom. It was really the only job I ever wanted. So here they are. Maddie is 12 and is my stoic one. She is quiet, but knows how to influence others.

Morgan is 17 and ready to move on to her senior year. She is independent and is not influenced much by peer pressure. She has an infectious laugh.

Rozzie is moments away from turning 14. She is always up for fun and things that are cute. She is friendly to everyone and is really good with children.

I must have done something right to get such great kids!! Now for my big present. As I stated on my previous post, we got gutters put on the house which covered our house numbers. People struggled to find us and let us know how difficult it was. We bought these tiles in St. Augustine and Travis mounted it today!! YAY!! I have looked at these numbers at this particular shop in St. Augustine for 10 years!! I love them!

They are mounted right off Maddie's window in plain view. Looks pretty nice!

The Music Man, Prom, Graduation, Medieval Times, and St. Augustine

Many moons ago, Morgan participated in the school's play, "The Music Man." she had a very small role at the end of the show in the band, playing the tuba. She didn't have to do much acting as she marches in a band and plays the tuba. She loved her few minutes in the play and had a blast (really good pun!). I finally got some decent pictures of it.

Here is the whole band, and if you can see, Morgan is laughing her head off and her mouth is wide open.

Here is Morgan's final band concert of the year and Morgan is playing her trombone solo in the jazz band. She is right in the middle of the picture. I like how Mr. Creswell is standing off to the side and the look on his face is funny. He doesn't look angry or bored, but maybe discontented. Morgan said that is just how he looks as they play unless he is directing in his jazz directing way. They did a great job. Last week, I had the opportunity to go to the Prom. Travis and the girls were in Pensacola, so i went with My co-worker, Heather. We had a very nice time. I always enjoy going and seeing my students looking so fine! Here we are with my student, James. He is the one who likes The National Geographic magazines and one time, when I put my hand on his desk to talk to him, he felt all my finger nails. He is adorable and he wore black Converse shoes with orange laces and he looked AMAZING at the Prom.

While I was at the Prom, Travis and the girls were at Ashley's graduation from the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Here is Grandma, Ashley, and Trav.

Here is the whole gang. Shan and Mikkyn came from Texas with their 4 kids; Mom and Dad came from Utah; Annette is next to Ashley; and the rest is my family. The girls had a great time playing with the little cousins and being their best friends. I have no idea where Maddie is in this picture. I just realized she is missing!

Yesterday, Maddie and the rest of the 6th grade went to Medieval Times in Orlando. Another mom took a lot of pictures. Maddie had been looking forward to this for a very long time. Both sisters had gone and raved about how fun it was, so she knew that it was going to be the best day ever. Here she is with her group, hamming it up!!

While Maddie was at Medieval Times, Travis and I took the day off to take Mom and Dad to St. Augustine for a little lunch and shopping. They loved the old city. This is Trav and the folks with Flagler College in the background.

It was a hot day. We ate at the Columbia which is a Spanish/Cuban restaurant and it was so wonderful!! Come visit us and we'll go there!! We walked around the old city and did some shopping. Trav and I finally got numbers for the house. We had gutters put on last year before we did the hardwood and the gutters covered the house numbers! We have never rectified the problem and people have commented. So we finally did that!! I'll get a picture and post it!! We looked at lots of fun things like shells, earrings, t-shirts, etc. We had such a nice time with Mom and Dad on this visit. We are so glad they came!! They left this morning and are on their way back to Utah.