Happy Annniversary! (belated)

married April 23, 1977

Happy belated Anniversary to Dad and Madge! (almost half a month late..sorry!)



They have been married for 33 years! I hope that Rob and I follow their example of love, patience, friendship, and flexibility through our married years. I love you guys!

Happy Mothers' Day, moms!

Happy Mothers' Day
to all of the mothers in our lives!

Thank you to our mothers and grandmothers who care for us and love us unconditionally. They have taken time to nurture us and teach us how to be. All have sacrificed their time and comfort for us and we are both grateful and blessed!

Peggy: Rob's mom, Ella's Nana, and my mother-in-law

An excellent gardener and baker with a contagious laugh and beautiful hair,
she has a special way to show you her care.
She is good at staying organized and keeping things straight,
and she is never, ever late.

Peggy: Rob's grandmother, Ella's Granny, and my new Granny

Likes to do puzzles and have a good book to read,
Granny is funny and can really make us laugh.

Mary: Rob's new Gram, Ella's Great-Gram, and my Gram

She is always on the move and ready to go,
she knows how to make you smile when you're feeling low.
She's thinks about us every day
and is the perfect Gram is every way.

Marylou: Rob's mother-in-law, Ella's Baba, and my Madge

She is funny and smart, healthy and fit,
as you'll rarely ever see her sit.
She's a nurse, teacher, and model for me....
She is who I'd like to be.



the 4 generations of women
(Gram, Madge, me, Ella)


Paulette: my godmother

Unfortunately, I could not easily locate a digital photo of Paulette,
but I had to include her in my list of mothers for the day because she is such
a wonderful godmother to me. She is funny and spirited and is always checking up on me and involved in what I'm doing. She never forgets a birthday or anniversary, either!



A Mothers' Day Blessing

Bless you in the morning, as you start your day.
With all the strenth & wisdom that you'll need along the way.
Bless you with the special love you take the time to share ~
With warm appreciation for the many ways you care.
Bless you with a happy heart & when each day is done,
Bless you with all the joy you bring to each & everyone.

~Emily Matthews

Summer-Like Weekend

This past weekend we had temperatures in the 90's and high humidity. Baba came down to visit on Friday into Saturday and we had a great time. Ella used the new garden Elmo tool set in a bag that she got from Pappy and Baba to work in her garden and plant tomato seeds. We went to opening day of the Glenside Farmers' Market, played outside with water, containers, and bubbles, and played in the sprinkler. Later in the day, Ella painted the model car that she and Rob built (that was her birthday gift to him).

On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for one of Ella's friends, Lexi, at the playground. The girls met when they were only a few months old in playgroup, and now Lexi just turned 3 years old! We ended our weekend with treats from Ritas! I think we all slept well on Sunday night!

helping Baba put on her makeup


waiting to go outside to blow bubbles
(chose her froggy boots to wear for the day)


smiling for the camera


playing with the hose and cups


Rob and me


Ella pointing to show Rob which way to run through the sprinkler
(She had much more fun watching and laughing at him do it!)


"Go, Daddy!"


blurry, but this is so funny!
The neighbors even called over and cheered for him!


cutie


painting the racecar while Rob steadies it


picking her colors carefully

Garden

Our garden is almost completely filled with herbs and vegetable plants and things are growing well so far. We planted the red-leaf and green-leaf lettuce and some tomato plants that we got at the Glenside Farmers' Market (so inexpensive and very hardy looking). We planted the tomatoes on Saturday and we already have 3 or 4 yellow blossoms, so hopefully the will continue to do well (I might even get some more and put them in containers since I love using tomatoes to cook with, especially in homemade sauce).

I was really hoping to use the water from our rain barrel to water the garden, but we found that there isn't enough pressure when a hose is attached, so we'll just have to reserve that water for filling buckets and cans for container plants.

green-leaf lettuce

another view of the green-leaf lettuce


just watered


red-leaf lettuce


lettuce, with some tomatoes in the back


full garden


waiting to grow


planting tomato seeds in peat pots


top of orange tulip


salvia growing back from last year
(I thought I accidentally ripped it out, so this was a nice surprise)


azalea bush in bloom


rhododendron


my favorite color tulip in our yard
(hostas in the background)