Keeping up with the Jones's...

As you may remember, our "fabulous" science project of a vegetable garden didn't turn out to be all that fabulous. In fact, it's pretty pitiful, if I do say so myself. A couple weeks ago, our neighbor, who just happens to also be Luis's brother, David, borrowed Luis's tiller (which, I might add, was NOT at my disposal during my feeble attempt to prepare the land...but I'm not too bitter-haha). Anyway, here we are, three weeks later, and David's sweet corn is knee high, lush green, and growing strong. His onions have long passed mine, and his watermelons are thriving. I have to pass by his garden every time I come or go in the car, and I can almost hear the corn laughing at me when I drive by. Today, Luis decided that he would help me plant another garden, a small one on the side of the house. We went to the local feed and seed and bought some plants...Hot peppers, banana peppers, bell peppers, (are you seeing a trend?) and cucumbers. All of Luis's favorites! I ventured out to our "old" garden, and managed to find three watermelon plants that had not quite bitten the dust yet, and Luis transplanted them as well. Nothing like instant gratification, seeing all the already grown plants, green and lovely. Monday, however, they will turn into my responsibility, and I fear that my lack of a green thumb might have detrimental consequences in the not so distant future. Luis then proceeded to our back field, and tilled a HUGE rectangular plot that we will plant in the early fall. It's double the size of David's garden...which means double the amount of plants to kill...oh help!

Snapshots from a seven year old's perspective

In case you were wondering what is important to a seven year old after a day of fishing...here's your answer...


Cars...

Trucks...

Food...

more food...(This is the old La Hacienda-reborn!)


And here are some more reasons why you should never give your seven year old your camera...(nice peanut butter face!! LOL)

Nothing could be finer...

...than to celebrate Luis's 40th in Carolina! Here's some shots from our nice day at Hunting Island and our favorite crabbing spot on Coosaw...it was overcast the whole day, but it didn't stop us! We had a great time.

no more pencils...no more books...

Well, we made it to the end of another school year! It's hard to say who is more excited for summer...me or Josh!! He did pretty well this year, and reached the usual first grade milestones...he reads very well, and excels at his math. He learned cursive writing this year...it is NOT his favorite but he did well and hung in there! Our garden, although not a horticultural success, brought so much hands on learning to the second half of our science year. All in all, it was a good year, and I am looking forward to second grade with him. I haven't decided if I am going to do a full-blown kindergarten curriculum with Jonathan in the fall, or just get ahead on the basics, and start fall 2010 when he's five. Either way, it will be interesting this fall with a new baby!

Just wanted to set the record straight!

Contrary to a recent post I made, summer is not here yet...it was 59 degrees yesterday, and the wind was whipping! We froze through Josh's (awesome) baseball game last night! (They are currently tied for first place!!!) The temperatures are supposed to climb this weekend (into the 80s) so we are heading to the beach to celebrate Luis's 40th birthday! I have never hung out with a handsome 40 year old man before...should be interesting! haha

Buddy returns...

Every morning, when I look out the living room window, I see Buddy (aka Paco) sleeping on the steps by the porch. Poor dog...he still thinks he lives here! He must break off the neighbor's leash like he did with us. We do not feed him (even though we still have a full bag of doggie treats), but he continues to come around. It's actually the best of both worlds...we have a guard dog that we don't have to feed or care for, and he protects our property as if it were his own.

The end of a Kellish icon

I received some pictures today from my sister in New York, and I have to admit, they made me sad. The tree in the back yard at my parents' house blew over and was uprooted. It was there my entire lifetime. "It's just a tree" you might say, but to the Kellish family, it provided years and years of shade for family cookouts, naps under the hammock, and endless adventures for the climbing children. Goodbye great old willow...

Summer already!?!?

Well, the weather is getting hotter down here, so we decided to get the pool ready again. I always have this slight uneasiness from the first day we set it up, until the day we break it down in the fall. The kids know that there are SERIOUS consequences for going anywhere near the pool without an adult. At night, we make sure the ladder is out, and moved so far that they would pass out from exhaustion before making the trek with the ladder to the pool. I guess you could say we go a little overboard when it comes to pool safety, but I figure, better safe than sorry. It's not a very big pool...about 4 feet deep and 16 feet in diameter. It takes a full day to fill it (good things we have a well!) so the kids have been swimming in it while it fills up. The water is freezing, but it doesn't seem to bother them at all! So, here's to summer and all the fun that comes with it!

Ode to an Angel

For all the times you were there to put your arm around me when I was feeling down,

For all the times you played "just one more game", even though you wanted to stop three games ago,

For all the times you stay up all night, praying for safety, direction, and change,

For all the times you told me the truth, even when it wasn’t what I wanted to hear,

For all the times you let me go, even when I should have stayed, knowing I would fall, but being there to help me back up again,

For each lesson taught, without saying "I told you so",

For all the long talks, belly laughs, and shared tears of joy and sorrow,

For choosing to give me life in the midst of trying times,

For all these and so much more…I am so very grateful..

For you, Mom!

Mother's Day Eve

Whew...what a Saturday!! We started off at the baseball field for a HOT (like 90 degrees) ball game this morning. The boys played great, and won another one! After that, it was lots of running around...shopping...errands...a special day-before-Mother's Day-lunch (since Sundays are our busiest day!)...we even mananged to find time to clean the church! Needless to say, we were all bushed when we got home. The boys cooled off on the slip and slide, and Luis and I sat on the porch with tall glasses of water, enjoying the setting sun, and the boys laughing. What a fabulous day!

Plagues

The boys and I were out watering the garden after school today, and they found 12 little tiny frogs. I mean like a centimeter in length, tiny. I thought it was neat when they found one...then they kept finding more...and more...So we made a terrarium out of a large glass jar, and we studied them. They were jumping and leaping all around. I have to say, they are pretty cute little guys, and the boys love them! I couldn't believe that they found so many in such a short time...then Luis came home from work and he said, "Did you hear about the plague of frogs in Georgia?" He began to tell me how there is an infestation of frogs in a certain area of Georgia...there are tons and tons of them, and are getting into people's houses. Suddenly, our new found friends didn't seem so appealing to me anymore.

The Diamondbacks won tonight 13-2! What a great game! They are in second place right now. It is so nice having Josh and his cousin Matt on the same team (with Uncle Robbie as coach). The boys all have such fun together.

chocolate, chocolate everywhere...

I don't know if your family is anything like mine, but somehow, after any holiday that features candy (Valentine's day, Easter, etc) we have tons of left-over goodies. The Easter basket was still sitting on our counter, and the boys had long since forgotten about it's sweet treasures inside. Even Luis's last two bites of his white chocolate cross were still in there. Normally, the chocolate would call my name, and I would be the one who sneaks a piece here and there. But when I am pregnant, I have this incredible will power to stay away from things that are not healthy for me and/or the baby. (I have to admit, I choose not to exercise that will power when I am not pregnant.) Therefore...the candy has just sat there for weeks. So today, I decided to do something about it. I pulled out the double boiler, and began unwrapping bite sized snickers, and foil eggs. I looked in my snack cabinet, and found some caramel marshmallows that no one was eating. I added a little butter, and a bag of popcorn that just came out of the microwave. I made some mean looking caramel, chocolate, marshmallow popcorn balls. OK, they are probably not as good as the Harry and David popcorn with chunks of chocolate, but hey, they smell fabulous! So far, I have resisted (unless you count the time I licked my fingers after packaging all the balls)....Hopefully I can stay away altogether! The real test will be Josh, who doesn't care much for popcorn. I might have to bring them to the ball game tonight, and have my sisters kids eat them. Even so, I just love experimenting with left overs...it's always an adventure!

whoa, Nellie!

After being the only female species in our home for the past twelve years, I have grown accustom to the amount of testosterone that flows within these four walls on a daily basis. Growing up, I was always the "tomboy" type. My younger sister and I would find more pleasure playing with trucks on the dirt pile in Dad's back yard, than trying to match heels with Barbie's latest fashion. About the only contact we had with dolls of any type, were the poor little ones who became victim to our scissors. We would attempt to turn their long curls into a short, not-so-chic haircuts. After that, they couldn't hold our attention any longer and we would return to the back yard on another adventure. So, you can imagine my surprise finding out that I am 20 weeks away from giving birth to a baby girl.

I have been window shopping (online) just to get a glimpse at what is out there. After all, it's been nearly four years since I had a little one, and all of the baby paraphenalia from Jonathan was donated to various locations in Arizona before we moved. It is as though I have stepped into a different world, complete with lace and frills and bows. I must say, I don't really fit into this dimension yet, but I can slowly feel my estrogen increasing with every click of the mouse. When I shopped for the boys, it was so easy...striped shirt, and shorts...solid button down and church pants...white socks, or if I was feeling daring, maybe tan or even navy. That was that. I didn't have much to choose from...a quarter of the boys sections in most stores was overburdened by the girl's clearance pink foo-foo dresses that wouldn't fit into the already buldging girl racks.
I find myself thinking often about her...she might either be a tough little gal, able to hold her own against two older, full of life brothers, or she'll be our little doll baby, with hats and socks that match her pristine dresses. Most likely, she'll fall somewhere in the middle. It has been nice to not have to worry about circumsision...and trying to come up with another boy's name. I am thinking that maybe she'll be a little less energetic than the boys...but then again, she'll have Luis's genes, too, so probably not. One thing is for sure, if we aren't careful, she's going to be one spoiled little girl! Luis got all teary when he heard Jonathan tell him "I am going to have a little sister" for the first time. On my side of the family, there hasn't been a granddaughter in fourteen years...almost sixteen years since the only girl on Luis's side. I can tell this is going to be an adventure of a lifetime. One that I'll be easing myself into over the next four months.