Tea...anyone?

So the girls had a play date with our good friend, Jessa...and ended up having a tea party!
What a great way to spend the afternoon! Thank you, Jessa, for spending the afternoon with us!

My favorite flower...

I love this pic of Li-Li. The daisy is from our friendship garden. My dear ole' friend, Vera, gave them to us two years ago....and now our garden is brimming with them. Vera is one of my many "students" from the YMCA...she is 80 years old, and as sharp as a tack...both in mind and spirit! We adore her, and think of her everytime we stop to smell the...daisies!

Wheelchair Walks!

So with all this nonsense and bad foot stuff going on...things got pretty blue around here. Last night the girl's were playing out front, while I relaxed and watched.
Mae wanders over and says..."Momma, let's go for bike ride!"
"Mae...Momma cannot ride...remember...bad foot!"
"Well, lets go for a walk, Momma.."
"Mae..Momma has to stay off her foot."
"Well, I'll push you...we will use the wheelchair, Momma."
HEAVY, HEAVY SIGH (wheelchair is buried in the garage...hasn't been used in ages) Jeff stands to the side, shaking his head, knowing he will be rearranging the garage shortly.
"C'mon Momma...we can go in the wheelchair..remember Disneyworld..when we walked in the wheelchair and I rode in your lap?"
"Yes, Mae, that was fun."
"and I met Belle, and we saw that parade...and it was pretty chilly that day...remember?"
Mac chimes in..."Yes, I did that, too, when I was little. I remember watching the fireworks and eating raisins while sitting on your lap.."
"Yes, Mac, those fireworks were amazing!"
Mae, "Yes, and we walked around the zoo while I sat on your lap,"
Tears in my eyes..."Yes, wasn't that a nice day, saying hello to the giraffes?"
Mac.."We went to the zoo, too, remember...with Jessa, down in the city...so cool Momma. I sat with you, and the leaves were changing.."
"Yes, you were so little back then,"
"and we went to the museum, and saw the Egyptian village,"
Mae.."Oh those people we so creepy...I was scared, and held onto you, Momma..."
"Yes, Mae, you did not like the mummies all that much,"
"Yes, Momma, I love sitting on your lap and going for a ride. I'll go get the chair, and we will go for a walk."
Mae starts digging out the wheelchair. Jeff gives in, and cleans the chair off..it is covered in dust.
"Here, Momma, we will clean it up and go for our walk, OK? Kenzie can push Li-Li and Jr., and I can sit with you while Poppa pushes, and we can have our talk, OK?"
"Our talk?"
"Yes Momma, I need to talk to you. We need to have a talk. I like to talk to you while we walk. It has been too long since we have walked and talked."
I catch my breath. This is so true. We had been going for walks everyday, before the foot issues occurred. That was over 6 weeks ago. We haven't managed much walking since then.
They clean up the chair, and I lower myself in. It has been a while, and I do not normally troll the neighborhood in my chair. I feel a bit embarrassed.
Jeff is tired. But he gets everyone situated, and Mac starts pushing the stroller down the walk.
Mae climbs in my lap."I love sitting with you in the wheelchair. Now we can talk, Momma."
Off we go. The sky is that pinking blue-violet color it turns in the evening as the sun starts drooping in the sky. The cicadas are humming, otherwise things are quiet. We nod and wave at the neighbors. We gaze at the colors of the flowers and leaves. We marvel at how beautiful the evening sky is.
Mae starts chatting with me about school. She is going to co-op for the first time. As she chats, it becomes obvious she is very nervous about going. Fears abound, not knowing any friends, teachers, where she sits, how she finds the bathroom, where she eats lunch, not having Mac in her class...all these things come pouring out of her heart...while rubbing my arm and snuggling in close...as we roll about the neighborhood... in my chair.
I stroke her hair, and listen quietly as she rambles away. I reassure her as best I can, and then ask if she would like me to stay with her for a bit the first day...just until she feels better about things. Yes, she admits, that would help her feel better.
She brightens up, and start reminiscing again about all the different times we have walked around in the wheelchair.
"Momma, I miss walking with you. Can we do this again?"
Oh yes, Mae. Let's go for a walk again, very, very soon.

Our Friendship Garden

We started a little perennial garden out by our lamppost...with flowers given to us by friends and family. This is an Easter lily we were given 3 years ago. It has bloomed beautifully for the last 2 summers!

Our Silly Bugaboo...

For some reason Mac has always been fascinated with bugs, and earlier this week she came upon a cicada. They are out in droves now...singing that very loud, late summer song we are all so used to hearing.

More Northwoods adventures with the Little Man and Li-Li!

The little man had a great time on the boat. He didn't seem to mind his lifejacket too much! We are so glad to have him with us for a while.

So Li-Li was able to reel one in! For a kid who has an aversion to creepy-crawly things...we were in awe of her enthusiam over flippy-floppy fish. She had no qualms grabbing the little ones and tossing them back in!

Mae meets Fredricka

One day there were frogs hopping and swimming all along the shore-line! Everyday the kids found new little buddies to befriend.

Mac's training for Tommy Bartlette!

Mac's gymnastic training encourages the dare-devil inside of her this summer...

as she takes it to the tube!

The boys!

Ben and Sam joined us at the cabin, and we convinced them to try out the tube! Sam was such a good sport...and Ben, who did not want to try it at first...declared that the tube was..."AWESOME!"

Well done, boys! We really enjoyed our time with them last week!

Kat's Krew at the cabin

This is the cabin we stayed in last week. The girls loved climbing up into the loft with Grammy. Later in the week, my BIL and nephews joined us...and then took over the loft!

This area is very quiet and peaceful. You heard the loons calling quite a bit. Jeff and I would wander out at night and were amazed at how bright the stars were!

So we spent a week up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin,

hanging out in a beautiful cabin on Plum Lake!

Grammy rents this place every year, and the girls love it up there!

This is Grammy Pat and the girls cruising the lake!

We spent most of our time boating on the lake or hanging around the dock. The lake was clean, with a sandy bottom, full of crayfish, frogs and minnows. The kids spent a ton of time trying to catch them all with their nets!

Check out Queen B's Blog...what a great post!

This post has me thinking...please read this Blog! This defines the struggle I have encountered these last couple of years....feeling inadequate as wife, mother, daughter, and a friend. What do you consider to be a successful life? Here is a wonderful post about just that! Thank you...friend!
THE LAND OF CURLY HAIR: SUCCESS - MY ANSWERS

It has been awhile.

I'd like to make this thing a little more informative....so that I could actually share it with friends and family some day.


We have a new little man that is visitng with us for a bit. We have really enjoyed fostering again. Thanking our Lord that Jeff is willing to reach out to these sweet little people that need some care and love. He is adorable, and brings us so much joy!