Two Things I Never Knew I Enjoyed

This is the first year I have done gardening from the very beginning. I have pulled weeds before and done some basic planting, but my MIL showed me how to work up my beds. It is a lot of work, but wow! I have such a sense of accomplishment and ownership over our landscaping right now. I can actually name every plant in our yard, which is huge considering last year I couldn't even tell which were plants and which were weeds. It felt so good to be able to walk into a garden center and be able to tell them exactly which plants I needed. It makes me smile every time I go outside and walk around this yard that I am fortunate enough to call my own.

I have also started running and attending a Boot Camp workout. I am a very beginner here. I am only going about a mile and a half right now, but plan on running my first 5K on the 4th of July (couldn't have picked a hotter time of the year, I know!). I should have started training four weeks sooner than I did, but you know how that goes. So far, running is one of those things that I have to make myself do, but once I get going, I want to do it every day. It really helps that I have three friends that I will be running the 5K with. Two of them are veteran runners, like 20 miles a day. My good friend, Amy, and I are novices. We are taking it slow and just getting our feet wet with this whole running thing.

Running and gardening are two things that I really never knew I would enjoy so much. It is funny how our interests change through the years. I can't wait to see what other interests may develop down the road.

Kennedy's Gymnastics

Kennedy loves gymnastics! I was planning on taking a break during the summer and starting her back up again in the fall, but she just enjoys it so much. So, we are staying enrolled through the summer. She is doing excellent on her skills. She listens to the teacher and follows instructions beautifully! Although she is only 2 years and 3 months, the teacher said that I might want to move her up to the three year old class already! The three year old class is a 45-minute independent class without a parent, so it will be a big step for Kennedy, but I think she is ready. Here she is in all her cuteness...

Katelyn continues to do quite well with her gymnastics skills too. Katelyn's teacher moved her up to Level 2 Training Team this week as well. She had just started Level 1 Training Team this past Christmas break, so she is progressing quickly. In another year or so, we will be heading off to meets to watch little Katelyn compete. I am very proud of both of my little gymnasts!

This is summer!

Ahhh...summer! Most definitely my favorite season of the year! We are spending so much time swimming, playing outside, and just relaxing. I am enjoying spending time with the girls now that I am off of work. Katelyn learned to jump off of the diving board this month at my parents house! She wears her life vest, but doesn't hold her nose and doesn't need anyone in the water to jump to! This is her first summer for such bravery! Kennedy is great in the water too. We just put the life jacket on her and she is completely independent in the water. She swims all over the pool. I highly recommend this life jacket to anyone with 2-5 year olds. It is great! I don't even need to be in the pool with Kennedy, of course I keep a VERY CLOSE eye on her from my lounge chair.

Here is a video clip of Katelyn jumping off the diving board and of Kennedy swimming. Kennedy is at the end of the clip, so stay tuned to the end or you'll miss that littlest love of mine.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there,

especially my Dad, my FIL,

and my Husband.

Kevin,

The girls and I are blessed by you every day. I never knew I could feel as connected to another person as I feel to you. You are a wonderful father... husband... friend... man! You are my best friend and the girls' best friend. You are simply amazing!

We adore you!

The Great Garage Clean Up!

The men in Kevin's family men are notorious for their garages. Now, I know that all garages have clutter, but honestly people...you have no idea what I am talking about here! First of all, Kevin's grandpa has a 2-car garage, an entire basement, and an attic FULL of stuff. Uncle Al has a 6-car garage, full of everything anyone could ever imagine! And for Kevin, we have a 3-car garage, an additional 1 1/2 car garage, a large furnace room for Kevin to keep things in and now we have just built a new 2-car garage over at one of our rental properties to keep more stuff in. Here is a glimpse into just a little of what I am talking about...

According to me and the average person, this is way too much junk. But to them, treasures! I will admit that Kevin can always go out into one of the garages and find anything

he needs (or I need), and with impressive speed I might add!
As nice as it is being married to a man who is so resourceful and handy, the massive amount of stuff and mess is a definite con. So, I finally asked Kevin if I could try to organize our 3-car garage...the one that is actually attached to our home. Let me assure you that trying to organize thousands of screws, hinges, and all of those other little things that I have no idea how to use is an impossibility. Plus, Kevin gets very uptight when any of his things are messed with. So, I attempted to leave his things as intact as possible, but to just move things around a little. Kevin was so helpful in that he took a LOT of stuff over to the new garage. The clean-up is not finished, but sooooo much better! I would like to get Kevin another shelving unit so that he can at least put all of his boxes of mismatched things onto shelves and off the floor. But, for now, anyone who knows Kevin would surely be impressed with our clean and mostly

organized garage!

Emily's Broken Arm

Here is my darling little 22-month old niece, Emily, with her broken arm. She walked off of Mindy and Tom's bed and landed the wrong way. These pictures were taken after her surgery...they had to put pins in her little arm due to the way she broke it. I don't have any pictures yet of her brand new hot pink, cast...very fashionable choice in color Em!

For those of you who do not already know, Emily is going to be a big sister in early August. Mindy and Tom are expecting the first Jack family grandson, who will join the 4 Jack granddaughters. We love our girls, but we are all super excited to experience the world of a little boy!

The Kid Lies

Kennedy is going through a little lying stage at the moment. She lies to manipulate any situation. Her lies always follow a pattern, so it is easy to tell when she is trying to pull one over on us. She always starts out by saying, "________ told me..." Like, "Mommy told me no night nights." Or, "Daddy told me we go to the park." Better yet, "Daddy told me cake and fish (goldfish) for lunch." When we call her on it, she folds her little arms in a "I Dream of Jeannie" way and says a disgusted, "ugh!" Then we tell her that she has told a lie and has to go to time out for lying. Hopefully this phase will pass and our girl will not grow up to be a big ol' compulsive liar. We really aren't too worried as we remember Katelyn going through a similar stage at this age blaming things on Gunther. However, Katelyn only told a few lies, not several a day like Kennedy is pulling.

Anyway, here she is, being her ornery little self, making a silly face for the camera (which is another phase she is in right now)