Grandpa's Garden

 This week we were at my mom and dad's and Alice told my dad she wanted "to help pull some food out of the ground."

 Jack decided he wanted to help, too.

 My dad always has a big garden.  Since we always had this in our backyard I am positive I never asked to get to pick stuff and probably hid if I knew I was going to be told to pick--especially green beans!

 I had to take a picture of this tomato from every angle.

Alice loves to help Grandpa!

Lego Build-Off

 This week our library had a Lego Build-Off where kids had one hour to build an original creation that went along with the summer reading program theme, which was Dig Into Reading.

 There were more than 50 kids competing.

 Jack with his finished creation.  He didn't place, but he had a good time and even found the first place winner and congratulated him.  I'm so glad he's willing to try new things and stretch himself.

Ice cream afterward for a job well done!

Park Pillows

 After having it on my to-do list for years--I wish I didn't mean that literally, but I do--I finally made the kids park pillows.  And after all that waiting, this is the best picture I got of them.

 I found pillows for $3.50 each at Target and used vinyl tablecloths I already had.  If you have a big tablecloth like this one, you can get more than one pillow from it.

 Since I am such an expert seamstress, I used the highly technical method of measuring by my kitchen tiles.

 Oklahomans working on this project in May, insert a break here while you wait for the tornadoes to pass--again, I wish I didn't mean that literally, but it did actually happen.

 Once I had the piece of tablecloth the size I wanted, I turned it to the wrong side and sewed a seam around three sides.  Again, I used the highly precise method of the silver thingy on my machine.  After sewing three sides I turned the tablecloth right side out, put the pillow in, then folded down the raw edges and sewed it up.  Now we have pillows we can take to outdoor events without worrying about them getting spilled on or dirty.  You can just wipe them down!

 Why do we need pillows for the park?  We have movies at the park each week during June and my kids love to go!  The first week we saw The Lion King--the kids were actually chilly that night!

 Week Two was Nanny McPhee--I love that movie!

 The last week we went was 101 Dalmatians.  As you may be able to tell from this picture, being chilly was no longer an issue!

I hope you're having a great summer!

The Resurrection and the Life

"I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."  John 11:25-26

The (Third and) Fourth of July

 We started the celebrations last night at my parents' house.

 

 They had taken the kids to get fireworks on Sunday, so all that was left was planning when to do what.

 Jack taught Alice how to light...

 ...and run!

 A little dog showed up and the kids were thrilled.  They were a little disappointed when the neighbors came home and it was their dog.

 Trying (and failing) to get a serious picture.

 They had lots of fun with everything.

 (Except cleaning up afterward.)

 Jay had to work today so this morning the kids and I went to see Despicable Me 2.

 This afternoon we went and got another small stash of fireworks for tonight.

 Until Jay got back we kept busy with smoke bombs and poppers.

 Eyeballs!

I hope you had a safe and fun Fourth!

Veterans Memorial Park

 When we moved to Moore almost exactly 8 years ago, this was the view over our back fence.  It was overgrown and weedy and if your ball went over, it wasn't coming back.

 By the next summer, though, they had started clearing things out.  We were a little nervous because we were losing a lot of shade and we weren't sure what the plans were.

 It turned out to be fabulous!  This is Jack (in the orange shirt) the very first time we went to the park in June 2006.

 He had his third birthday there.

 And as you can see, we never bought a swingset because it's kind of pointless when you have a whole park just behind your fence.

 It was a great place to walk--

 Even if you were just learning!

 And if you had to take a bathroom break?  Your own clean potties were just over the creek.

 We had egg hunts there.

 Jack found the Elders there, too.  (If you've ever watched Lord of the Beans this might make sense to you.)

 Of course there was fun play equipment, too.

 And if you got bored with that, you could always head to the creek.

As you can see, this park has been a special place for us, even after we moved.  The park and our old neighborhood (and our house) were hit hard in the May 20 tornado.  If you click here you can see the damage in photos taken on May 21.  The third picture would have been taken from somewhere close to our back yard.  Please vote here to help Veterans Memorial Park win $100,000 toward the cost of reconstruction!