Father's Day...

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing man I know.  

 A flower arrangement from greenery and flowers from our yard.

Tulip Fields...

May 30, 2016

 We made it to Roozengarde in Skagit Valley and I'm so happy we did.  It had been too many years since our last visit.  

It was bright and sunny and lovely.

 Blossom found her walking buddy right away.

 50% of my children are taller than me.

 The sun was so bright we had a few squinty pictures.

 I love those sweet smiles!

 The Professor is my oldest and he is an awesome 15 year old.  I am really enjoying the mid-teen years. He is kind and he looks out for me and his younger siblings.  I'm very thankful for him.

Yes, Spring Has Arrived . . .

I didn't make it to the Tulip Fields in Mt. Vernon this year but I have tulips blooming in my yard.

I haven't seen any butterflies yet but I have them in my dinning room. Idea from MADE blog.

  
I'm not putting in a garden this year but we are growing protozoa in the kitchen.

Note to friend A, this just happened to correspond to your posts.  Not done on purpose.  It made me chuckle to see the similarities in the differences.  :-)

From My Six Year Old . . .

My first flowers of Spring.  Given to my by my very sweet six year old The Scientist.

When we lived in Ferndale the Dandelions were abundant and I was never without a bouquet from Spring through Autumn.  But here in Lynden, the Dandelions are scarce and it's taken a while for my boys to find some wild flowers they can pick. 
I love flowers from my boys.

Thirteen Years...

Happy Anniversary to my hubby and I. 

For a Friend...

Flowers for my friend Anna and her family.  

Rest in peace Grandad.

17 Girls...

Our church had Vacation Bible Camp this week.  We call it SummerFest.  I spent the begining of the week at the front registration desk.  Then I started filling in for "Sheapards" (leaders) on day 3 and 4.  Today I had a group of 17 girls.  SEVENTEEN!!!!  Between the ages of 7 and 11.  I kid you not it was like I had ONE.  Anyone with girls must know what I'm talking about.  For me... I'm still in awe.  They are quiet, they do what they are suppose to do, they don't move much, they don't goof off, they don't disappear, they don't bug or pester each other and they memorize their memory verses and are ready to recite them when they show up!  Was it all just a dream?  

I keep telling myself, I was blessed with boys for a reason.  Right?  Only the strong can be moms of multiple boys.  I tell ya, I just feel like I'm raising a bunch of animals some days.  I love the figure of speech a blog friend of mine uses....

Herding Grasshoppers.   Yes, that is what it feels like most days.  Herding Grasshoppers.

At Glen Echo Gardens in Bellingham, WA.

Link to Glen Echo Garden.

Marigold Blooms...

Remember these...

Now I have these...

Tangerine Marigolds

I ended up sharing about 80 of them with friends and family.  These are the ones I kept.  The professor really enjoyed the project and tells everyone who comes to visit how small they were when we started.

A Bit Of Sunshine...

Sunday was May 1st and it was a glorious day.  My hubby turned the sprinkler on to keep some newly planted grass seed moist.  

The boys saw this as summer finally arriving.  It was still cool out but it's hard to see that when the sprinkler is going and the sun in shining.  

The boys ran in the house, pulled on their swim trunks and headed out to have some fun.

Declaring war on the sprinkler.

Can you guess who is who?

Getting a closer look.

These boxes have been used for quite a lot of pretending.  Normally (and I use that word loosely) they are robot costumes for battling.

Signs of Spring...

A few signs of spring. 

A tree in pink blooms.

A purple flower.

 

A blue sky.

 

A boy in the woods.

Little Marigolds...

What do I do with a hundred Marigold starters?

It may not look like it but there are a hundred little plants there.

An outdoor cub scout activity didn't get the attendance I had anticipated due to heavy rain so I was left with all these little Marigold starters. 

We didn't want them to go to waste so my oldest son and I started transplanting them.  We had everything we needed; soil, 

Dixie cups...

It's still too cold to have them outside so they will be in my kitchen for the next couple weeks.

I suppose then I'll be saying, "what am I going to do with a 100 Marigold plants?"

Fireweed - (Epilobium augustifolium)

Love this wild flower.

There is no other flower around that evokes so much emotion and memories out of me than Fireweed.  Growing up in central Alaska this wild flower was a welcome sign each summer.  With tundra colors of moss green and brown this flower stands out and gives the land some color.  It's blooms are a reminder of how much summer we have left for when the blooms reach the top and it goes to seed summer is coming to an end.  When I see it now as I drive around Whatcom County it brings me back to my time in Alaska.  Good times, full of quiet and peacefulness, memories and family.  I'm so thankful this little weed grows in our State of Washington.