Weekend Happenings and Saying Goodbye

It was a chock full busy week and weekend.

We opened the pool.

It's not warm enough to swim yet but the solar cover is on so

hopefully in a few days the kids will be bugging me to swim.

All of my Clematis is in full bloom.

I can't remember the name of this but it was beautiful.

Love my Macro lens. Isn't this a cool picture?

See? The Clematis was just loaded with flowers this year.
I'm hoping it covers the ugly chain link fence that surrounds the pool.

The Iris around the pond is blooming.
I think the Buddha helps them bloom.


My husband planted my whole garden for me.
The lettuce and chard are doing well and we've eaten lots of salad.
I mean lots.
The garlic behind the lettuce is doing very well too.
This is the first year I've tried growing it.


I took these pictures last Thursday and already the lettuce and chard are twice the size they were. Must be that good chicken manure.

Sage and Lemon Balm with some tiny Fennel plants next to them.

Two pairs of Orioles have built nests in our yard again.

There is one nest in the Willow Tree and one in the Maple tree on this very spindly looking branch. I have to assume that the Orioles know which branch is the best real estate.

My Peonies are a beautiful stunning pink color.

And this week we said goodbye to one of our homeschool moms, Leslie and her children.

They have been coming to our house every Thursday for over 2 years.

We are very said to see them go.
We celebrated their family with lots of food and a party.

Romy ate some cake.

It matched her skirt.

The entire crowd was here to celebrate.

We each gave Leslie some gifts.

Joni made her this mama goddess doll.

You can find more of her dolls at http://www.jonirae.com/

That's Leslie with the doll.
Leslie has five children with one on the way.

Beautiful children.

Some more crowd.

Leslie received some hand knit Culottes for the baby.

And these adorable baby capris.

We just loved the purple skorts.

Every momma needs a Diva knuckle ring.

The mama-to-be tea looked yummy.

Avery had auditions for Blue Man Group.

The green popsicles were a huge hit.

Romy keeps a check on her big sister.

Aya ate all day.

I could bite those cheeks.

She's so photogenic.

Leslie put her cake on the ground while she opened her gifts.

We caught sweet Aya hiding behind the chair and sneaking cake.

She looked so stinking cute......but not so innocent.

Sweetness and Light.

Sue always needs a baby fix.

Sue's second baby fix.

She fed Cooper breadsticks.

That's always her plan.

Feed the babies goodies so they will sit her lap.

Cooper at some crumbled bread sticks and a few real sticks too.

Then his momma read him a story.

Socks on Fox.

Joni's read it a few times.

She knows it by heart.

Soon it was time to say goodbye.

All the kids posed for pictures.

Two children didn't make it into the photo.

It's like herding cats to get them to sit still for this long.

Then all the mommas posed for a picture too.

We'll miss you Leslie!