More Gabriel Terrors

I thought Gabriel's issue with the tent caterpillars was quite hilarious.  Here's what we found outside our window yesterday.

While we're all enjoying the view Gabriel says, "Stay away from the geese, they will break your bones and rip your insides out."  Wow!  Have to wonder who he's been talking to lately. I think I'll blame the video games.

Summer! (unofficially)

Here's what's blooming in my yard.

Wild rose

Japanese lilac

Strawberries

These are my successes in the garden this year.

Disclaimer:  These pictures were all taken last week before the hailstorm.  Now everything looks pretty chewed up.

Yarn Along

I'm a little late joining the Yarn Along crowd this week.  I've finally started on the back of the Bianca sweater.  Really interested to see how this all comes together in the end.

Can't tell from the photo but it's all one piece now.  The front sections are at the bottom of the picture and the sleeves are toward the ends of the needle.  I think I hit the long boring part of this pattern.  Only five more inches and the decreases will start and things will speed up a bit (I keep hoping, anyway).

I just finished reading Arms of Love.  Had that book for forever and could never get around to finishing it.  I'll probably pass it on to Clare when she's older.  I wanted to like that book so bad but it just didn't seem very realistic.  Bummer! 

For this week's read, I started Consoling the Heart of Jesus for the second time.  I loaned it to a friend who liked it so much she decided to buy her own copy.  It's the kind of book that's hard to loan out because I keep wanting to reread parts of it.  Maybe I'll be on a perpetual do-it-yourself retreat!

Strange weather we're having

You've heard of flash flooding...I think we had flash hailing.  Our beautiful Memorial Day produced a sudden storm including 1/2 an inch of rain in about 15 minutes and these beautiful pictures of c-c-c-cold hailstones.

Thankfully, Stephen had just arrived home from his soccer tournament in Blaine.

Joseph was kind enough to wade through the water and let the ducks out.



Kind of icy, but they took to the water like....well, ducks!

Just some minor flooding!

And when it was all over, the sun was back to steam things up a little.

We had nothing better to do ..... so we threw a party!

Dan's parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary at our house this past Saturday. Since I have nothing better to blog about, you get to read about the details!

 After some major prep work....

(We tested out Johnny's taco-making skills.)

and a whole lot of mowing....

we were ready for the big day!

(Love this panoramic picture that Clare took.)

Some major partying took place....

and a rather un-intense game of volleyball.

Now all that's left are the memories....

(Here they are renewing their vows.  Awesome!)

and some crusty,pieces of cake.

We're talking really, majorly crusty.

Not a slave to fashion!

I guess I should be proud.  We raised him to think critically and not follow the crowd.  It's everything a homeschool family works toward.  Stephen, you have surpassed our expectations (that may not necessarily be a good thing, I'm thinking).

Not a slave to fashion, boxer boy.

And the winner is.....

Andrew!  Yesterday, he found seven wood ticks on his body at one time.  Yikes!  The other two were from Gabriel.

Then we found one more on Johnny and another one on Gabriel last night.  Yes, we live in the middle of wood tick heaven this year.  We're going to run out of tape (that's the preferred method of disposal).

Yes, we have the latest technology!

Or so the kids think.  We have found all kinds of treasures at Grandma and Grandpa's, as they've prepared to move over the last few weeks.  This is by far the most popular....

Oh, wait!  Not those awesome headphones.  We already owned those beauties.   No, I'm talking about this little gem...

Or here's an even better view...

Just in case you have forgotten the very latest 1900's technology, it's called a Walkman tape player.  Every kid in this family has gone crazy for this unique, little invention.  Alright, maybe not the oldest, iPod toting bunch.  They wouldn't be caught dead with this antique.

Did I mention they can even listen to the RADIO when they run out of cassette tapes of Adventures in Odyssey?   Oh, joy!

Even Marianna is mesmerized!

Two down...eight to go!

Yes, that's right!  We have officially graduated two children from high school.  Here's the pictures to prove it...

Even though Timothy kept saying it was "no big deal", I think he was still pretty proud.  The Mass and ceremony went off without any really big problems.  Whew!  Now I can take a big sigh of relief and look forward to this weekend when we only have to host a 50th Anniversary party for Dan's parents.  You know just a few hundred of their closest friends and a forecast of thunderstorms.  OK, so my sigh of relief is turning into a panic attack!  No problems!

Andrew says this is the new Timothy action figure.

Robbie post

With a little sweet talking from the kids,  Jim couldn't resist harnessing their favorite pony and taking everyone for a ride.

Dan got a lesson in horse maneuvering!

All grown up!

Marianna's favorite activity is trying on other people's shoes.  Here she is stumbling around in a pair that Therese wore for 1st Communion.

needle & thREAD

I'm joining Elizabeth's needle & thREAD this week because I am so excited about a new pattern I tried recently.  A friend loaned a stack of patterns to me last Fall and I just glanced through them and stuck them in a drawer in the basement (usually never to be found again).  About a month ago I realized that Marianna has exactly one Sunday dress that fits her.  I looked through my fabric remnants and figured there must be a dress or two in there somewhere.  But what kind of pattern could I use for my teeny, tiny, two year old?  I tried to downsize this...

but came up with what is now lovingly called "the clown outfit".

I got her into it but couldn't get her out.  Thought I might have to literally rip it off of her! I think we have a doll or two around here that might be able to wear this experiment.  Normally, I would have called it quits.  So glad I kept going because I dug up this pattern which was really easy to modify and now I think I want to make about 20 of them!   I'm on the prowl for some lace and cute buttons to jazz it up a bit. (Sorry about the blurry pictures.  I'm trying out my Mother's Day gift from Joe and Tim and let's face it my model isn't keen on standing still for long.)

My read-of-the-week is Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Rose Deibler.  I wrote a bit about this yesterday. It gives an interesting historical perspective of WWII and I have a whole new appreciation for missionary work. 

Check out more needle and thREAD at Elizabeth's blog!

Those Terrifying Caterpillars

See that little guy?   Seems pretty harmless, doesn't he?  Gabriel does not agree.  I cannot get him to play outside because of the tent caterpillars.  He says the caterpillars are mean to him and he wants me to do something about it.  They ARE annoying and kind of gross because there are soooo many of them and they are totally destroying our trees.   Didn't mention that to Gabriel though.  Obviously he has his own issues to resolve this Spring.

Yarn Along

I finished the Reversible Tank last night and just need to take care of the loose ends. Hoping to wear this with a certain skirt that was impossible to find anything in stores to go with it.  I'm reading Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose.  It's about her mission work to the people of New Guinea at the time of WWII.  She ends up in a POW camp but I haven't gotten that far in the book yet.  Hoping to spend some time outside reading this week.

I've already started the Bianca  from Berroco's website. I'm using Mirasol Tupa in Onyx.  Really love this yarn!  Haven't decided if I should finish a dress I'm sewing for Marianna (which means I'm stuck inside on a beautiful day) or if I should sit in the sun and knit, knit, knit! (Or I could read, read, read!)

 
Check out Ginny's blog for more great Yarn Along ideas.

Some people take grilling to a whole new level.....