Today in real time.....

Well I think I have finally caught up with all the major stuff I wanted to put in the blog from the past couple of months. I had some of the posts from June sitting in the draft folder and forgot about it. Just call me the "once a month blogger" I guess.

Let me tell you about what a lovely day we had TODAY...yes today..not last month. We went over to some friends house for a play date and got to play with their chickens! The kids had a blast and got to see some freshly laid green and blue eggs. I am so jealous. I wish I could have chickens. My friend gave us some of the eggs and I can't wait to eat them. I know they will be good because we sometimes buy fresh farm eggs from a lady I know.

Then we came home and I let the boys swim in the kiddy pool for a while. I was looking in our storage shed and discovered a little nest with 3 small eggs in it. I'm sure the nest must be very old but we are going to keep it open just to be sure. The kids got all excited and James would not leave it's side and started talking to the baby birds and planning how he was going to catch worms for them. I've been trying to look up what kind of eggs they are on websites and in books but am still not sure. They are very small white with brown speckles. They kind of look like cardinal eggs, (I think).

Then later James discovered a live Cicada that had just come up from underground. We picked it up and put it in a little box and got to watch it come out of its old shell. It was such a thrill for them to see the fresh green cicada come out and unfold it's wings! Of course I would have taken pictures put my batteries are dead. Arg!

I also had another thrill today...I got an email from one of my best high school friends! We have not talked is SO long. She now has two cute boys and I'm so happy to be back in touch with her!

Swim Class

As I told you in a previous post...the kids had a blast at their swim lessons this year. Here are some pictures.

Happy Birthday America!

We had the best time on Independence day. We went to a picnic put on by a family from our church. They had a big blow up jumping slide, a train to ride, live music, and a great fireworks display. Poor Joshey did not like the fireworks. They were SO loud, he just held onto me and covered his ears in terror. Callie & James were right up there close to the front loving every minute of it!

Backyard Beauty!

Here are some pretty pictures of scenes from our backyard . I have been really pleased at how my flower garden has taken off. I never knew zinnias could grow big and huge almost like sunflowers....my little baby zinnias that I started from seeds. I also planted some morning glories all along one of the fences and they have just taken over. It is so fun!

I just love dragon flies and we have so many bird friends that visit our bird feeders. Above you can see our friend named Welcome Robin. Everyday we see many hummingbirds, cardinals, finches, sparrows, blue jays, and chickadees. I really want to get pictures of all of them.

Our vegetable garden has done pretty well. Our tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, and green beans did well. We also had some corn come up. It was really sweet but not very pretty. The ears were underdeveloped. My sugar snap peas got eaten up by something. I planted some Swiss chard late that is now starting to get big. It is so pretty like rhubarb. I've never even eaten it before.

Republican Convention

In June I went to the Texas Republican Convention as a delegate alternate. It was an interesting experience. I did get to vote a couple of times on the last day when some of the delegates went home early. Besides learning more how the political process works I would have to say the highlight of the trip was hearing Ron Paul speak and having him sign my copy of his new book!!!



Notice in the above picture I am wearing a shirt that says "The GOP Rules...Let's follow them" which means: Let's follow the GOP rules. After I got home I thought that people might have taken the shirt to mean, The GOP is cool...let's be cool like them. The whole point of wearing the shirt was to point out that the GOP has a hard time following the convention rules and we want to change that. However...they pulled the same "good 'ol boy tactics" If you're interested in what I'm talking about see the Fair Convention website.

Dr. Paul with his Sister-in-law

I'm sad that he dropped out of the race, but he has started a new organization called Campaign for Liberty in which he plans on spreading the message of freedom and supporting like minded candidates.


Now I am left with the problem of who to vote for in November as apparently Texas does not count write in votes. I have really been considering Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party. Everything I have read so far sounds like what I believe in. Some have been considering Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, but I have heard some negative things about him that I will have to investigate further.

I no longer believe that I should vote for the lesser of two evils but should whole heartedly vote my conscience. How else will we bring about true change in this country and let people know that we have a mind of our own and can think for ourselves?! Of course I am not stupid to think that a third party candidate could actually win at this point in the game..not when the media and the other two parties do everything in their power to stifle them. But maybe one day.....that is what we have to work for. Or maybe the Republican Party will actually be changed by committed people who will bring it back to it's roots of liberty. Either way is fine by me.

Joshey's Zoo Party

In May my sweet little Joshey turned 2 years old! We celebrated with a party at the zoo with family. He has really blossomed over the last couple of months with his talking skills. It is always such a miracle to me to see their language skills develop. It's like one day he woke up and he could imitate anything you could say and then started with the 2 word utterances and now he is saying little sentences. I think having a speech therapy background makes me analyze it more than most people would. HA!

He is definitely in the "terrible twos" getting into everything and making those little messes everywhere. His favorite words at the moment are: "NO!" and "My turn!" Sometimes he and James get into some screaming fights but other times they are the best of buds. It is so cute to watch when he and James are off playing and talking to one another!

Hello World!

Well I am so behind with my blogging. We have been really busy with a lot going on. Some people slow down in summer but we have been even busier it seems. We are still schooling this summer except when we go out of town. I have found that I have so many interruptions during the school year that we end up taking several unintentional breaks and so I am having to keep plugging away so we can finish 1st Grade before we start 2nd in September! But I have found that I actually like schooling through summer. The kids don't get rusty on their skills and we can enjoy more vacation time when the weather is really nice in the fall and spring.

James will be an official Kindergartner this fall as well! I can't wait to make a big fuss over him and make our trip to the store and stock up on fun fresh school supplies. I always remember liking getting new school supplies for the coming year....pretty folders, colors, markers etc.

Tomorrow the kids have their last day of swim class!! Woo Hoo! They have been going for two weeks and I'm tired of taking them up there. I hope I remember to take my camera so I can get some shots of their last day. They have had a really good time and I can tell have increased their skills!

We were so exhausted today after all our running around that we all ate supper and fell asleep at 8:00! Then Josh woke us all up at 1:00 and I could not go back to sleep so here I am at 2:30, luckily everyone else went back to sleep. So maybe I can get caught up with my blogging :)