Joy Dare::May

332. The only person I can control is myself.
333. Jeremy talked business with me while we drove this evening
334. Left feeling depleted and returned refreshed
335. Community
336. Caterpillars

337. A package in the mail
338. Perfect driving weather
339. Supper on the road with good friends
340. An empty waiting room
341. Brandi to talk to
342. A quick pharmacy
343. A dump truck in front of me to keep me from driving too fast
344. A husband comfortable taking over in a pinch
345. Sitting beside Grandma King
346. Playing in the stream
347. Big cousins happily playing with little cousins
348. Listening to 3 siblings chatter in the backseats
349. Treasure hunt
350. On the porch listening to spring rain
351. Fascinating treasures on our walk
352. Mama bird on her nest in our tree
353. Laura's late night call!
354. When Josiah got out of the car after the fishing trip, he ran to me saying, "Mommy, I caught a whopper!"
355. Laughing around the table
356. Fish fry supper

357. Our first trip to the beach this year

358. Spring green grass
359. Helping my sister prepare her party food

360. Renee requesting to sit by "Cawraw"
361. A tired that comes from a big day
362. Mother's Day morning to stay in bed as long as I want
363. A sister to keep me in line
364. Forgiveness
365. My Mom shows me what it means to sacrifice for my family
366. Mom shows me that most of the time it's better to keep my mouth shut
367. Mom taught me to work hard
368. A good attitude in spite of having a cold
369. First strawberries of the season
370. Project list
371. Bathtub fishy

372. Aliza almost falling asleep while riding the lawn mower with Jeremy
373. Frozen go-gurt made me a snack time hero
374. Kids with excessive energy and personality
375. "Mommy, I love you more than 100 alligators!"
376. A friends thoughts to challenge mine
377. Counting gifts by the bonfire

378. Laughter that comes from games of chase
379. Flowers in amazing colors

380. A husband patient with a bad choice of exit
381. Little girls sitting very still to get their fingers and toes painted
382. Heard: Grandpa is going to take me to my high school prom!
383. Siblings (mine): and plenty of them!
384. Gramma's ice cream social
385. Signs of maturity here and there
386. Spontaneity
387. Planting a cork screw willow tree

388. Buying gifts for a family living in another country
389. Aliza and Josiah deep in conversation about Minecraft
390. Strawberry jam for the freezer
391. Perfect day for picking strawberries

392. A body weary from hard work
393. Hotdogs and soda at a baseball game

394. Grandad came to our rescue and mowed our grass since our lawnmower is broken
395. My heart turning to prayer
396. Some time alone with Anna
397. Ignored some messes so that I could enjoy the good things
398. Josiah being big brother to Anna
399. The start of summer break from school
400. Celebrating hard work and accomplishment
401. Windows open on a cool rainy day
402. A ladies tea
403. My friend sharing what her heart knows
404. A walk in the woods

405. Friends who pinky swore to call each other "sis"

406. A date with my husband
407. Dreaming about trips far away
408. Jeremy did child care at church so I could listen to the sermon
409. Gramma's Memorial Day picnic
410. A phone call from my brother-in-law
411. Peonies

412. The feeling of one less responsibility
413. Aliza wanting to sit at the table and just talk
414. Ordering pictures for my Gramma
415. Blue sky
416. Blue water
417. Blue bathing suits

418. Gift given: discipline and consistency
419. Gift given: Jeremy's overnight golf excursion
420: Gift given: TCBY just because

A Water Day

 It's been interesting to notice how much more time I feel like I have now that school is over. Education takes a lot of time and energy! I have a list of projects that I want to complete. Only one has been crossed off, but I feel like I'm getting so much done. Today was a beach day. It was hot and the sky was blue. A great day for water!

All 3 of the children want to be in the water all the time.

 When Janell and her girls got there it was all the better for my kiddos. Janell doesn't mind being in the water. I'm wimpy. I think it's cold and I don't really like wet sand all over me. Janell's girls agreed with me so we exchanged children as much as we could.

Janell's girls were clinging to her for dear life and Anna was grabbing her hand to go out deeper!

 A few minutes later Meghan and her boys arrived. We all ended up in the water.

 This afternoon it was hose water for entertainment. Josiah thought he should wash his Gator. I had to take pictures to put beside pictures of him washing his car in 11 years or so. He was careful because he didn't think water would be good for the battery.

 He wanted a picture with his clean Gator.

This little boy is going to come up with the hard questions! As we were riding across the ferry he said, "Mommy, how does the ferry stay on top of the water when it is so heavy it should sink?" Mommy came up with an unintelligent answer. She will remember to bring it up at the supper table so Daddy can answer. =)

Hello Summer!!!

Yesterday was the last day of school in the Heslop household. We all sat at the table and supported Aliza during her last lesson. There are so many emotions when finishing something you are really invested in--happy, sad, excited, nervous--Aliza felt it all. She was excited for summer, sad to say good-bye to her teacher and unsure of moving on to the next grade. I felt compassion for Aliza and all her emotions but, honestly, I wanted to do a happy dance. I restrained myself. =)

To change the tone from sad to happy, Aliza and Josiah played minecraft and it was a laid back and happy day from there. Aliza showed me the lastest addition to one of her worlds.

 

We had a celebration for the end of the school year. Grandma and Grandad came for supper and Aliza laid out all of her work on a table. I find it satisfying to see how much Aliza accomplished. She learned so much this year. The difference between the first reader and the last reader is tremendous.

Aliza thought it was pretty amazing to sit between Grandma and Grandad. Tacos for supper and brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Now I have a second grader and a kindergartener. I'm glad I have the summer to wrap my brain around that one!

The Day of Strawberries

This was strawberry day. We picked 4 gallons of strawberries in about an hour. I had some good helpers. One helper preferred to empty my bucket into hers to keep hers the fullest! We walked to the end of the field. There were so many ripe berries and we were away from anyone else in the field.

Chrissy came along with us. Her original purpose to was to help us (and take pictures), but she ended up picking a bucket of berries also. When Chrissy decided to pick, I found a perfect berry to give her since this was her first strawberry field picking experience.

Anna enjoyed eating.

Aliza tasted a strawberry and lost her top front tooth in the process! She was pretty surprised. The tooth is in the field somewhere so she negotiated for a daytime tooth pay off. Aliza has 3 more very loose teeth!

Meghan and boys also picked strawberries. Caleb and Josiah. I'm not sure how much picking actually happened...

Then it was time to carry our 4 buckets all the way to the front of the field. Josiah carried his as far as he could.

And then I carried all 4 buckets the rest of the way. It was a lot of berries!

After picking those berries we came home and I topped the first gallon. When Anna didn't fall asleep at nap time and I realized I needed a new blender we made a quick trip to Walmart for a blender. I then made 6 batches of jam, cooked supper, educated Aliza, washed an absurd amount of dishes and put everyone to bed (Jeremy was away that evening). I felt very industrious--and very very tired!

Ice Cream Social

 Gramma likes to make her HUGE banana split for Valentine's Day, but this year she was recovering from hip replacement surgery. We had our banana split in May instead! My Gramma knows how to lay out a party!

I am so blessed that, at 80 years old, Gramma is not just existing, but having ice cream social and playing with her great grandchildren and praying for us and is here to love us.

The Weekend of Flowers and Fire

The first thing we did upon arrival in West Virginia was admire Karen's flower garden. Aliza said, "The Garden Tour is HERE!" It sure was! We had Brandi's birthday to celebrate and plenty of play time. Aliza, Josiah and Anna sure look forward to playing with Joel and Brandi. Anna gets Brandi all to herself while Aliza and Josiah play all kinds of chasing games with Joel that include all manner of imaginative intricacies.

Everyone was commenting on the shade of Anna's hair color after supper. I had to confess that she had put a bunch of product in her hair before we left--lotion, lip gloss and mineral oil!

Saturday morning the ladies were off to the Shepherdstown Garden Tour and Tea. It was a very enjoyable tour. Karen is knowledgeable about flowers an,d Brandi and I, we just enjoy the sights. Iris were the flowers that were really blooming in so many varieties of color.

Van has built a fire pit and has collected large stumps for stools to sit on. Josiah was a most enthusiastic helper to get a fire started for smores. It was just the right kind of chilly for a fire.

Just cool enough that a blanket felt good. Of course I only packed summer attire. Ah well. Everyone survived!

Suffice to say, Aliza did not enjoy the fire so much. Sometimes I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that girl! =)

I'm so happy to have my parents close by to live life with, but it's sure fun to have far away Grandparents too. We get to do so many extra fun things with them that aren't part of normal life. We got home just in time to go to my parents house to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday. Yay!