Emma's Performance

We're so proud of all the kids that pulled off the musical "Jungle Book" in only 5 days.

We celebrated with ice cream after the show.

Emma and Rick, the Director.

Great job, Emma.

The view...

Several folks had commented on our backyard with my last tree house update

and I thought it only fair to show the view surrounding the tree house.

The tree house faces the sunroom off the back of our house. We added this room onto our house seven years ago and it's our favorite room in house. This room tends to show up on the blog quite often. In fact, this is the room where my infamous Christmas/holiday tree permanently resides.

Behind the treehouse and to the right of the property is an area that Chris cleared of scrub brush. Eventually, this area is going to have wild flowers and a bench or two.

If you continue further back and through the woods, you'll come to an open sunny patch where our vegetable gardens reside.

Most of the time, you see a long garden hose running back to this area. Eventually, we'd like to find a way to hook up a permanent waterline to keep the vegetable gardens thriving.

This is one of the two vegetable gardens. If you look closely, you'll see the tall wire fencing to keep out the deer and rabbits. Next year, Chris has big plans to make it easier to access the garden. The fencing has worked, but it's definitely not easy to penetrate (even for the humans). I can't take any credit for the clearing of the woods, removal of the poison ivy, or the cultivating and planting of the vegetables. It's ALL Chris.

A little history about the yard...two years ago, we were able to purchase nearly an additional acre of land behind our house. Consumers Energy owns the remaining land and aside from the electrical towers and lines, it's undeveloped and full of wildlife. We live in a traditional subdivision with neighbors very close to either side of our house, but we now have a nice wooded lot full of lots of potential. Unfortunately, with all the high humidity and heat this summer, it has been terribly full of mosquitoes too. Boo!!

As you've noticed, Chris has BIG plans for this tree house.

Imagine the decorating potential at Halloween!!

Go Chris, GO!!

Sneak peek...

Emma is having a wonderful time attending Musical Theatre Camp this week. They will be performing the Jungle Book on Friday.

She's been faithfully practicing her songs each night and Josie just wants to do EVERYTHING her big sister is doing. Tuesday evening Emma let Josie perform a duet with her of "Kaa, the Snake".

Emma, thanks for being so patient with your little sister. We're so proud of you. We can't wait to see your performance on Friday.

Ramona and Beezus

Have you seen it yet?

I grew up reading everything I could find by Beverly Cleary.

In fact, I still own all my Cleary books (that's the former librarian in me...never willing to part with ANY books...thanks for saving them Mom) and I have been secretly pleased that Emma enjoys them now too.

Ramona and Beezus completely exceeded my expectations - sweet, charming, funny, with many "teachable" moments thrown in for good measure. Both girls enjoyed it (which isn't always easy with the eight year age difference). This movie will definitely end up in our personal family collection.

Each of us should remember to embrace Ramona's creative/imaginative side every now and then. What favorite movies did you see this summer?

Things that made me smile this weekend...

1. Emma's much shorter new hair

2. My favorite coffee cup filled with extra whipped cream & sprinkles

3. Sneaking off to my favorite thrift store

4. My girls in their matching tops

5. Enjoying a game of Scooby Doo

6. Celebrating my mom's birthday

7. My silly frog candle holders & flowers on the mantle

8. Playing outside


9. Picking fresh vegetables from our garden

10. Making homemade corn & tomato salsa with our produce

I hope you had lots of reasons to smile over the weekend. I'm going to try and remember all the good things that happened over this past weekend when I start to get stressed at the University this week. I've got a hectic load of faculty appointments and new faculty orientations to conduct. Emma's in theater camp this week and will be performing in "Jungle Book" on Friday. We can't wait to cheer her on. Be sure to stay cool and keep smiling!!