Good night little lady

When I showed Alaina the crib I made for her, she crawled right in. I hope she enjoys putting her dollies to bed.

Two-year old twinkle toes

We enjoyed Alaina's birthday party. She was on the move so it was hard to get her picture, but I got a few. It was a really fun party with lots of people. Their new house is great. We saw Addison for the first time and what a little beauty she is.

Beautiful birthday girl

I thought this picture of Faith at her birthday was priceless.

June Fun

Faith batting at T-ball

Batter Up

Faith and Mariah (Faiths new best friend! LOL) Building with marble works. This was winters when she was a kid and it works perfect today. They really made toys so much stronger and durable back then.

Lindseys new hair-do isn't it adorable. I think she looks 10 years younger!!

Winter and Ryan

Joe and I, we went out for Karokee last weekend with my friend Tara and we had a great time! I love to sing!!!!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY FAITH!!!!!

SMILE FAITH YOUR 4!!!!

GG and Aunty Shirley

Winter, Maria (her boyfriends daughter) and Faith

Yummy cake girls???

Faith liked it!

Here is the amazing cake! Faith picked out Tinker Bell this year and the cake was so cute and boy was it delicious!

Faith was practicing smiling before we got her pictures done

Faith and Skippy on Faiths bday morning fun

Faith goes "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING ITS A ZULU PET!" It was so cute! Thank you to everyone for all of the gifts and wonderful time we all had on Faiths birthday. I can't believe that my baby is 4!!!

it is a good day . . .

the last day of school
leisurely getting up and getting to work
listening to matt maher, jj heller, page CXVI, leeland, and tenth avenue north
windows are open
taking the wolverine to the windy city to see my nieces
the garden is blooming

today's psalm is beautiful
Psalm 139:9-10~If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Goodbye school -- Hello summer!

Isaac and Adam had a great school year. The end of this year is bittersweet as Isaac is moving from the elementary school over to the junior high. On the last day of school there was an awards ceremony and Isaac was busy getting his name called quite often! He was one of the 6th graders to have earned the Citizenship Award each year and was given a special honor. Adam has gotten it each year too! Isaac also got the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence. I was so proud of both boys!!! Here's Isaac with his best buddy Zack. They're such great kids!

Here is Adam and his amazing teacher Mrs. Behrendt. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect teacher for him -- what a lucky boy! I also loved volunteering in her class -- she and I always had so much fun together! Maybe too much fun! Those are tears in her eyes as she was having such a hard time saying goodbye to all the kids. What a blessing she is!

The last day of school. Every year on the first and last day of school I've taken the boy's picture on our front porch. In the fall we'll be taking the picture in our new home!

And now summer is here! On Saturday I picked up my nieces Cailin & Maren at the airport in Milwaukee. They're here for 2 weeks! Hooray! My brother Mark will fly in on Saturday to spend next week here too. The cousins have been having so much fun together. The weather has been yucky so we've been having indoor fun. We went shopping for fleece fabric and they all worked together making these blankets for each other. What a great keepsake to remember this fun time together.

Happy summer everyone!

Love, Joy

Cool :)

I was able to talk with my dad over the web last night (I had a bit of insomnia from the medicine I am taking (Dad it is your favorite medicine:)).  That was fun since our time zones are off by a 1/2 of a day.  Dad was getting ready to start the day and I should have been fast asleep.  Anyhow, his click on the blog showed up from Japan!!  I think it's pretty cool!!!  (We should see it in the clustermap tomorrow.)

What a Beauty

This was my favorite shot (in sepia tones) from today's garden walk.

I love the simplicity of the cosmo.

Can you see God's fingerprint on this beautiful bloom?

Good Eats

Grilled Chicken, Avocado, Cucumber, and Lettuce from the garden(ftg).

Spicy Tacos with tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, lettuce(ftg), cilantro(ftg), homemade guacamole, cucumber, and salsa.

Corn tortillas prepared on the griddle pan of the new stove!

T-Ball Time

Well, with Spring/Summer comes sports and im so excited that Faith gets a chance to participate in T-Ball this year! Doesn't she look like a pro right before her first practice? Faith and her new friends getting ready to run

Look at that arm! She sure tried so hard and really paid attention to what everyone was saying.

Getting ready to bat and was listening to me telling her how to stand. LOL

Look at that hit!!! (Can you tell im a proud mom! he he)

Running out on the field to get some grounders. I am couldn't believe how great she did. She ran after the ball to get it when someone hit it and even used her glove on the ground to get it, many times, i even had to tell her to let someone else try and get it. Oh what an exciting summer it will be!!

Camping at VanRiper

Faith posing by a tree at our campsite

The view from our campsite

The beach

My little fish! She just ran right into the water like she new what she was doing! Looks like the breast stroke to me! LOL

Our campsite with my cutie pies!!!! We got a screened in tent on Friday before we left, since there was a chance of rain everyday we were suppost to be there. Luckly it only rained on Friday when we were setting up.

Faith had her own clothes line, and she had a blast hanging things up!!

Faith, Joe and I were playing war on Friday since it was raining and she caught on so fast! She liked to sit by Joe it was so cute!

I had a wonderful time camping!

Another quiet moment doing puzzles when the rain was falling. It was such a reminder of Grandpa like he was there with us. I really enjoyed listening to the rain at night it was so soothing and put us all to sleep. It was a great weekend to spend with Faith and Joe and we all loved every min. of it! We can't wait to do it again and are excited for July's Family Camping!!!!

Be Still My Beating Heart

As many of you know, my favorite color still is pink. I never seemed to grow out of loving it.
Last fall I bought this Foxglove Digitalis to add to my perennial garden. The previous one was demolished by a severe winter. Much to my surprise and delight the new plant is a GORGEOUS shade of pink.
Aren't the inner polka dots just so fun and unexpected?

The Foxglove Digitalis has a very unique name. The Foxglove is believed to have come "Folk's Glove" which means "Fairy's Glove". There are a lot of variations on the story from there including lore about fairies living in the blooms and foxes wearing the blooms to sneakily raid chicken coops. The Digitalis part of the name means "fingers" and the blooms do look like fingers or at least invite little kids to put their fingers inside to feel the polka dots. And for the moniker of this post, the leaves of the plant are used for a common heart medication called Digoxin. The medicine is used to treat arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, and other heart ailments.