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!