My Adopted Family for the Week

A friend of mine is going on a trip (second honeymoon) to Jamaica...if I remember right, the first honeymoon was like in Excelsior Springs or something. So, well deserved! I am the honored caregiver for their boys while they are gone. I am actually really excited...although a little nervous that by Sunday the boys are going to be ready to see mom. They are dropping them off tomorrow, Friday and then picking them up the following weekend on Sunday morning. These kids are truly amazing...I know, three boys...you are thinking I am crazy...but if you have met them you know just how great they are.

Thank goodness for the Honda Oddessy!!!

So keep me in your thoughts this week....I am going from 3 to 6 kids overnight...

Harned Pumpkin Patch

I thought everyone would enjoy seeing our pumpkin patch. I wonder if this is how Weston Red Barn Farm started?? Everytime Jeff and I look over there to check on our growing pumpkins...we are amazed at how HUGE this plant is getting. We probably have over 20 flower buds on this plant and it seems to just keep getting more by the days. I think we might be able to have a neighborhood pumpkin sell!!

Harvesting Veggies

Well everyone says that a tomato is a fruit...but I would feel wrong to say we picked our first fruit from the garden. It was a tomato and no matter what they say, they are always vegetables to me. Regardless, the kids were so excited to have our first pick of the season. I was not sure what would happen with the garden the first year...but it seems we did something right.

I have to take a picture of the pumpkin plant growing on the side of our house. Last year I did not know what to do with our pumpkins from Halloween...so I put them on the side of the house, hoping something or someone would carry them off for me ;o) .... instead they seeded into the ground and we now have the "Harned Pumpkin Patch" growing on the side of our house.

My neighbor asked me if I was doing an experiment with the girls...that sounded like a great idea...SURE, that is what I planned. I honestly have never seen a healthier more flowering pumpkin plant in my life. Ridiculous. The girls are so excited to grow pumpkins that Jeff and I are just mowing around it...I am waiting for the letter from our HOA telling us we need to trim our Pumpkin Plant !!!

Jeff is loving working at Harley. He is doing a great job and learning a ton. Worth just purchased a building about 5 minutes north of us off I29 and they will be moving this fall. It looks like a great opportunity for Jeff and we are excited to see what the future holds.

The Home Depot project is still going strong. He is working nights installing computer switches and more IT stuff I do not understand. Although working nights and days is very tiring...he seems to really enjoy getting to put his computer knowledge to the test.

I am on vacation. I took today and tomorrow off work to enjoy the home and kids. No big plans...just enjoying not being responsible for other babies for a couple days.

As you can tell from the poor writing and sloppy subjects...I am tired. Emma is sleeping here next to me and I think she has the right idea. Sorry for the poor reading...maybe I can step it up a notch tomorrow. We are heading to the pool and I hope to get some cute pool pics.

Good night all !!

Happy 4th of July

Things, they are a changin...With Jeff back to work, I am finding myself going nonstop around the house. I think I might of got a little spoiled in the 6 months he was home.

Time I had to blog is now going to putting those last minute clothes away...or whatever other household chore did not get done during the day. So forgive my lack of attention to my blog while I adjust and perfect my daily routine.

Well...Happy 4th of July. I am officially another year older.

WHOA !! It is amazing how they start adding up so quickly. I did have an amazing birthday. We had a big party at the house with all the neighbors and family and friends. Shot off a "very illegal" amount of fireworks, had a huge water slide set up for the kids and lots of food!! I have to mention how blessed I was at the end of the night. Normally everyone is very tired and ready to bolt...but everyone stayed and cleaned up the house before they went home. It was such a big blessing to get up Sunday and not have to mess with that all by myself.

The guys cleaned up all the fireworks and the girls helped clean up all the food. Thank you so much for doing that. It truly was wonderful !!

Sunday, Jeff and I watched Wimbledon finals and enjoyed a relaxing day of doing nothing. We are still getting used to him only being off on Sundays.

It is well past my bed time...as my "UP" time is only 5 hours away. I will attach the pictures tomorrow. Jeff is working on a laptop and I cannot access my home network right now(I said "Home Network") lol ;o) The pictures are a must see....lots of great ones from Saturday. Plus my husband was looking F-I-N-E sporting his new Harley attire.

Happy 3rd Birthday Gavin

Happy Birthday to a wonderful little boy. Turning 3 !! When a person thinks of running a home daycare, they usually cringe at the idea. They wonder how I do it and why. I am always telling them, just wait until you meet these amazing little boys I watch and then you will know. My day starts with him peeking around the corner of the house to see if I am waiting at the door. As soon as he sees me he runs to the door, all smiles to give me my morning hug. I immediately have to close my eyes for the daily surprise. It is usually a special something he has brought from home. Today it was a banana. Happy birthday to a very very special little boy. I love you !!

May the Lord bless you every day of your life and give you wisdom to make great choices and fill your heart full of peace and love throughout your whole life. Amen

July 4th Invite

Make a Smilebox invite

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We went to Deanna Rose Farmstead last Friday. I had the day off and so we decided to spend the day together doing something fun. It was the first time any of us had been there and it was really amazing. What a great place to take the family and spend the day. It cost us nothing. What a blessing. If you have not been to this farm, it is a must see. I will post the link to the website at the bottom of this post. Enjoy the pics !!

DEANNA ROSE CHILDREN'S FARMSTEAD

138th and Switzer
Overland Park, KS 66221
farmsteadfriends@opkansas.org
913/897-2360
Directions

Hours of Operation
Open: April 1-Oct. 31
Closed: Nov. 1-April 1

The Farmstead is a 12-acre park that has almost 200 farm animals and birds of prey, vegetable and flower gardens, a one-room country schoolhouse,a dairy barn, an old-time fishing pond, horse drawn wagon rides, pony rides and more.

Guess What ??

Thats right folks...the end of unemployment has found us. Worth Harley Davidson is our new employer !! Jeff is the "Go To Man"....he is going to be their "IT" Dept and Sales. He starts on Monday and could not be more excited. It is still very surreal for both of us. After 6 months of being out of work, it is kind of hard to believe this is happening. This has been a long hard road for us...and we are happy to have reached an end. We both knew God had a plan and that we just fell in where he wanted us too...we are just glad we have that place and now can start regathering all the pieces. For those that do not know of Worth Harley Davidson...they reside less than 10 minutes from our home. No highway...just main streets with no traffic whatsoever. They are hiring Jeff with every expectation that he will soon be a Sales Manager for the new store they are opening within the year by the airport. Again within 10 minutes of our home. It is amazing how life works. For those that do not know, last night Jeff was playing tennis at his club(preparing for the KC Open this weekend) and pulled his Calf Muscle. We were instructed by close friends and Ask a nurse to take him to the ER...so the girls and I drove to pick him up and take him to Saint Lukes Medical. A special Thank You to Blaire and Daryn...Blaire was so willing to come sit with my girls and be there for us if we needed...It gave me peace to know you were just a phone call away...Thank you Daryn for giving us advice when we were really unsure of what step to take!! To make a long night a little shorter....they confirmed he did pull his Calf and Emergency Surgery was not required...therefore, sending him home with some good pain med and crutches. Today was his interview and we were both very nervous about how it would appear to walk in on crutches and being on pain med. He came home with his new uniform on...so I knew it went well !!!

Thank you so so much to everyone that kept us in your prayers. Thank you for being our friends and loving us during this time. I pray that Jesus shines through us and we can be great support back to everyone else just like you have been to us.

I am going to bed now...and probably will sleep really really good!! I know Jeff will..he is well medicated !! LOL ;o)

Our Garden

We took down our trampoline...parted with a piece of our family...and it was a bitter sweet. The girls have enjoyed it for the time we have had it...but I have to say, now that it is gone, I love having our backyard back. It was a major eye sore. So we moved the play set to the patio and the girls have played with it more in the last week than the whole time we have had it. Obviously the grass was dead where the play set was, so Jeff suggested we plant a garden.

So here it is. Our Family Garden. I have never successfully grown fruit or veggies...so this is a trial run. We have a 6x6 area that we planted and it has 4 tomato plants, lots of peppers...green, habenaro, jalapeno...a couple cantaloupe and cucumbers. Sounds like alot for such a small area...but remember, we are new to this...so this is just our trial run.

Jeff is still home, searching for a job. Please be praying for us and for God's plan to fall into place. I am still babysitting and loving it. I have not been to a scrap booking event, nor have I scrap booked since the last time I blogged about it. I need to dedicate some time to it and get caught up. I have kept up with my gardens and they are thriving. I thank God for them everyday and am so blessed when I look out and see how beautiful they are. The girls are enjoying the start of their Summer Vacation. My mom and dad blessed us with Worlds of Fun tickets a couple weekends back and we had so much fun as a family. Jeff and I realized we are not as cool as we thought we were. I rode about 5 rides and had motion sickness through Monday...Jeff was amazing, he rode all the rides with the girls and many of them twice and it was not until the end that he started taking a pass on the rides. I was truly impressed and also very happy inside that I was not the only one showing my age. ;o) The girls have been enjoying our neighborhood pool. They have got to play tennis during the day with Jeff and they got to go to the Gladstone Pool with my friend Blaire for a few hours...they were thrilled. I think they are now spoiled with slides and diving boards...our pool might not be as fun now. ;o)

I totally failed at the "Bird Cam" idea...my plan was to take pictures every week until they left the nest. My Mom and Aunt are really into that live bird cam thing...lol !! I guess I just did not realize how fast little birds grow up and leave the nest. As a mother, I guess I could not imagine having an empty nest after just a few short days of feeding the little ones. I went out to take another picture of them and they were toddling around the yard trying to get away while the parents were very upset that I was that close to them. Maybe next Spring I can try that again....lol !!

Well I know that 10:00 is not late for alot of my family and friends....but my 4:30 walking buddy will be here all too soon and I just do not function well on 5 hours of sleep.....so I better get my kids in bed so that I can get there before 11:00. So goodnight, sweet dreams and I love you all !

Baby Finch Nest

I had a feeling that birds were making a nest in my rose bushes in the front. Jeff decided to look tonight and he found these sweet little birds. They are Red Finches and so so sweet. Right now there are 4 of them...so I hope to take pictures for the next few weeks and keep everyone updated on the progress. One of the pictures it shows Jeffs fingers...that helps give an idea of how small these birds are. All 4 of them put together are about the size of one of my small roses.