Cherries Anyone?!

We have been so excited for our cherries to finally turn red so we could pick them, and the day has finally come!! We have waited for 3 years for our cherries to come back, each year the tree would bloom and then a freeze would come through and kill the flowers. This year we prayed hard that our fruit trees would be spared so we could enjoy the yummy fruit, and viola all the trees have fruit this year. Two apple trees, a nectarine tree, and cherry!

We went out on family night to weed the garden and pick cherries, we spent about 30 minutes and got A LOT of cherries and we didn't even leave a dent in the tree. The tree is LOADED with those mouthwatering SWEET cherries! *smile*

Mason is so proud! I had to stand by him and pull the branches down to his level, and after squishing the first handfull of cherrys (had to show him a tecnique) had the system down very well.




Everyone had a contest to see who could pick the most cherries, I say they all tied.



Here is Oscar climbing up the middle of the tree.






Here is Daddy on the scary tall ladder!





Here is Zachary on the safe ladder having fun!



Here is the 'fruit' of our labor! (*smile*) We all had fun picking, eating, throwing pits at each other, and picking some more.



Next was the job of 'pitting' the cherries so we could can them (we did this the next day). Thanks Julie for your nifty gadet to help make this job LOTS easier. We had to wash, stem, and sort out the bad ones. All the boys were so willing to pit the cherries I just got everything set up for them, and they were off.







Sometimes the pitting was a little difficult *wink*



And after a week (yes it took me that long, pregnancy slows me down) of all that hard work.....Tah Dah!!! 24 pints of cherry pie filling, 7 half pints of cherry jam, and 2 gallon sized freezer bags full of cherries!! YUMMY!



Our tree is still LOADED and they are very ready to be picked and enjoyed. If anyone wants some, please please come and get some, I would hate to see them go to waste.

I have also been busy getting ready for Lily's arrival by getting some freezer meals prepared. I thought this shouldn't be so bad, but boy was I wrong!! I really do NOT have the energy I do when not pregnant so something that seems so simple quickly became a nightmare. In walks my friend April Dittrich to the rescue! I now have 30 meals all packed up nicely in the freezer ready for those crazy nights when all my help has gone home. THANK YOU April!! Also a big thank you to all my friends who gave me great ideas and receipes, especially a book from Rebecca Bledsoe called 'Dinner is Ready' by Deanna Buxton. I'm excited to try all the yummy receipes.






I also want to give a great big THANK YOU to my mom for coming up and cleaning all the dusty animal mounts and plant shelves for me. Everything looks brand new! Love you mom, could not, would not have done it without you!! You're the BEST!

Summer Fun

Summer has been in full swing the last couple of weeks, and the boys have been enjoying themselves A LOT!!

Mason has been so happy he can finally figure out how to pedal, and now he can ride bikes with his brothers! Parker has mastered riding without training wheels and turning on his own, he's only crashed into parked cars a couple of times *wink*

We haven't picked up a new swimming pool this year, but it hasn't stopped them from playing in the water! They made one of the trash cans a dunking pool for Mason, I think he liked it.

They also love to fill balloons with water and popping them with their rear ends! We did this activity for scouts one day, and Mason wanted to do one all by himself.

We are starting our 2nd week of swimming lessons tomorrow. All the boys are loving the water and learning to swim or swim even better. Mason is in preschool blowing his bubbles, and Parker is Level 1 trying to put kicks, scoops, and blowing bubbles all together and still stay afloat. Zachary is in Level 3 and refining what he has learned as is doing great. Oscar is in Level 5 and is also refining all the types of swimming styles, plus learning some survival/life saving skills. I'll try to get some pictures this week. They have loved going to the park and having lunch and playing with their friends at the playground. I'd have to say this summer is off to a great start. *smile*

Last Day of School

6/3/09

Today was a busy day! We went to the school to watch Parker participate in his Kindergarten Graduation. He was so cute, he definitely is NOT shy, he was singing and dancing and doing ALL the hand motions. I wish I would have brought the camcorder! I was watching him smiling and happy and I started to get teary eyed, what a happy moment.

Here he is singing and dancing *smile*





Receiving his Diploma (isn't he so proud?)





Parker chowin down on some yummy goodies!!



Parker and McKenna - two good friends



Parker and his teacher Mrs. Cano



Mason having a treat



Parker and Mason, don't they look so happy?



Congratulations Parker!! He also received 'Perfect Attendance'!



Later that afternoon we went back to the school to last assembly. Zachary was being rewarded for Perfect Attendance and Accelerated Reader. Since he was in 3rd grade he won a new bike!! He was very excited about this day.

Here he is with the group of other perfect attendance kids.



Zachary doing the chicken dance or the macarana (spelling?), maybe the twist? I can't remember for sure! *smile*



Here is the bike he received! Thumbs up *smile*



Zachary receiving his 1st place medal for reading 284.6 points this year.



Receiving his $25 gift card to Toys R Us for completing the 'classics' reading!



Receiving his $50 bill for completing his 'honor' reading!! He was very excited for this too!



Congratulations Zachary we are very proud of all the hard work you have done!

Daddy and Lil'O's Trip to Texas

5/28/09-6/1/09

Daddy entered a contest called 'The Funniest Hunter' to win a hog hunt down in Texas. Well he just really wanted to enter the contest just to be funny, but he ended up winning.


So when the people contacted him, he asked if he could bring Lil'O along with him. They said of course, but I said NO WAY Oscar has finals and has to miss three days of school. Well it turned out Oscar was caught up on all his work, didn't need much for finals and all his teachers were okay with it, so I caved.

They did some sight seeing, fishing, and hunting. From most of the pictures it looked like they had a blast!! We still missed them A LOT, and are glad they are home. I put together a slide show of some pictures, because there were a TON to choose from. Oscar wrote up a story about the trip, if you want to read here is the link: FYI 'Moosie' is Oscar and sometimes all the pictures don't come through but the story is there.

http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=240468

Rain Gutter Regatta

6/2/09

This month for cub scout pack meeting we had a rain gutter regatta race. All the scouts had to build a boat for the race. It wasn't too tough because they used a kit to assemble it (like the pinewood derby cars). Zachary made his boat all Notre Dame with green and gold, pretty much like his car, he was very proud of it. Race day they place their boats in a rain gutter filled with water and blow on the sail to move it, first one to the finish wins. *smile*



All the scouts had a great time, but we think lane 1 had a slight advantage, so we had boys change lanes for the second go at it. There was lots of cheering, laughing, and encouraging. I think it went great. Good job Zachary.

Playing in the Backyard

5/27/09

We had a jumphouse for a soccer party yesterday, so the boys took full advantage of it until it was time to take it back.

I just love when they play so great with each other *smile*