Drive Your Mom Crazy Toy

I love wooden toys.  Usually they don't involve blinking light seizures or splitting headaches.  Tip: if you have an unusually loud toy, put a piece of duct tape over the speaker area and it reduces the noise drastically.  I cannot, however, duct tape what my sons called the "Drive Your Mom Crazy Toy"! Ha ha... Happy Friday!♥♥♥

In The Gardens

Ok, you have gathered that I love the gardens.  Here is what has been happening in them lately!  I thought these daisies looked great in the vase box. ;)

The mammoth sunflowers are looking like, well, mammoth sunflowers!  I look forward to these all summer.  Sunflower heads make GREAT gifts when they turn to seed.  Pop them in a box with a note that says,"Feed the birds!  From my garden to yours." 

This is a pretty variety, very deep maroon/purple.

Snapdragons might bite you as you enter the front gate...

Seeee?  These keep reseeding themselves every year.  ☺

Sweet peas are very easy to grow and smell wonderful.  They like to climb up chicken wire, and that's good because the state made me chicken wire this front rail.

Here is what I refer to as "devil garden" because of the disgusting rhododendron roots and stumps.  The sunflowers and pumpkins hide it for now. ♥

Time to hang some herbs to dry.  My little drying rack wasn't going to work for what I had coming in.

 I got out the twine. (Of course.)

That'll do it!

Peppermint plant from Nadine.. it is so wonderful.

"Miss Nicole put weeds in her house."  One said to another.  Ha ha ha!!! Happy Thursday! ♥♥♥

At The Bus Stop

Today is the first day of school!  We were off to the bus stop this morning at 7:45.  What a beautiful morning, it's supposed to be in the low 80s today.

Ethan read a story while we were waiting.  Look at my boys- both ready to go.  I can hardly believe that all of our kids are now in school.  What a strange feeling..

Boy am I glad Aiden has his big brother to ride with in the morning.

The bus is always late for the first week or so.  We played with our shadows in the morning sunshine.  Look how taaaaaaaall we were!

Still playing.....

Finally!  It was a substitute bus, but going to the right place. ;)

Bye boys!  Happy first day of school!♥♥♥

Pick Flowers But Stay Out Of My Garden

I've had some flower pickers enroll at Henle House before.  I know that most girls love to pick flowers in anticipation of giving them to mom  at the end of the day, but having them snatched out of the garden without my knowledge always irks me... We all have our buttons, right?  Like the Tori Amos song "Datura", I want to yell, "Get outta my garden!"  It usually takes some training.  NO, those green tomatoes were not for you to pick, but thank you anyway. ;)  Go check the grass for clover flowers and dandelions!  They make a great little bouquet. There is a point to my rambling this morning- it's September.  Time to pick flowers!  They took their sweet time this year, but are now ready. The vase above was for a secret pal.

Have you ever put spearmint in your boquets?  I love to do this.  Not only do they last a very long time, they actually grow roots while in the jar and then I can plant each stem somewhere that I'd like to be bursting with spearmint next year.  The gladiolas were begging to be picked, they were laying down.  I love fresh bouquets!

We had a visit with my nephew over the weekend, did some salmon fishing, laid in the sun at the lake, and enjoyed time together before school starts this week. Happy Tuesday! ♥♥♥

Keeping Motives In Check

I was awake at 4:30 this morning.  My body hurt (you will laugh at this..) from reeling in a salmon.  Just one, but it was a beauty and we ate it for dinner.  I obviously don't do much physical exertion.  Tossing and turning, my mind was racing, too.  Like a line from a favorite song by Carlie Calbero ♫♪"..4AM is for sleeping, I 'm awake now.. flipping through thoughts just like channels racing.."♫♪  There's a verse that's been on my heart for a couple of days now.

Colossians 4:23-24  "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."   It hit me, this is why I fail when I try to do things for myself.  Once again, I have been what I call "smacked to my senses" by God.  Some of us learn better that way!  I'm grateful I was up so early to receive the smack.   Happy Sunday!♥♥♥

Updates

So much has been happening lately with our family, here's an update!  A few days ago I signed on with Partylite as a consultant.  Candles are always present in this home, I love the way a smell can brighten the mood, cozy up a room, and start a conversation.  (What is that heavenly smell?) It's usually something spicy or apple scented.  My long time consultant who is now my leader, has advised me to set a goal.  It's set- I am giving this business over to God and my goal is to use any income generated by it to pay for dental work.   Being self employed, I don't have dental insurance.  I just had a complicated root canal that was VERY costly.  (Complicated because I was lucky enough to inherit from my father the inability to numb properly.)  My goal?  Pay off that root canal so I can get more work done.  Amen!  Meanwhile, my starter show is now open, and I am praying for some catalog shows to be lined up soon.  Click the link to the right of this post to check out my website.  There is a great online sale happening NOW!  Fun stuff!

 

Take a close look at this apple tree.  There is an apple smiling back at us! My photo shop froze this morning, so I couldn't crop it.  Click on the photo to get a better look and see if you can spot the apple near the center.  This apple greeted me yesterday morning through the kitchen window.  What a great way to start the day!

Our BABY is starting kindergarten next Wednesday.  I can't believe this.  I have never had such a foreboding feeling about kindergarten before.  Maybe I feel this way because it's our last child.. Boy is Aiden excited!  It is going to be exceptionally hard for me to watch him go on the bus and not be able to go with him.  Thank goodness for Adam.  He's going to follow the bus and stay for an hour at the teachers request for all kindergarteners.

Look at him- he was so happy to help dad with the dishes.  That's my little sweetheart pie and I am not ready for him to go to school..... let the adventures begin!♥♥♥

Flying Giraffe

Daycare= parachute, right?  Time to play 'Flying Giraffe'!

 "One....."

 "Twoooo...."

"Three!"   Let's see how high he flies this time!

Wheee!!!  If you don't have a parachute, try a flat sheet or a large blanket.  Try flying different objects also, like balls, pillows, small bean bags.

Bad photo, but it's officially my favorite time of year.  Happy September!♥♥♥