Jello Bites

I had picked up a pair of ice cube trays (still in their package) in the shape of apples at a thrift store or garage sale (I don't remember) since my kitchen is decorated with apples.  I thought they might work for Jell-O We tested that theory today ☺

I sprayed the trays with cooking oil. 
These were the only 2 packages of Jell-O I had!

Sarah helping to mix the Jell-O
(5 oz of water per 3 oz package of Jell-O)

We got a full tray plus these (the red had 1 more than the blue)

After they set for an hour, I dipped them in warm water and then pushed them out with my finger

So cute ☺

The stems didn't always come out very well (especially with the red)

Yumm!

Park Party 2012

Maranda's first Park Party of the year was in a neighboring town, so we went again.  It sprinkled off and on, which kept the temperature (and the crowd) down.  I didn't get that many pictures, but here is what I did get:

This is as far as Andy wanted to go

Emily went all the way up...

...and down!

We brought the stroller so Sarah could keep her arm elevated with ice on it to combat the swelling (she has her rain coat over her lap to keep her cast dry)

On the way home

Brownout

Monday night/Tuesday morning at 2:15 am, I awoke to my fan making a really odd sound.  It was also really HOT.  I looked at my clock and it looked like this:

My first thought was I wasn't quite awake and blinked a few times and stared at the clock some more.  My next thought was that my clock was broken.  Then I turned to look at Dan's clock (same type as mine) and it had the same crazy readout!   Then I noticed the ceiling fan was barely turning and the odd noise my fan was making was because it wasn't occilating properly.  I turned my bedside lamp on and it was only about 1/4 as bright as normal!    As I laid in bed, the power came back to full power (Ahh, air movement) back to 1/4 power, then back to full power, and then about 3:00, it went completely out!  I didn't sleep well after that.  The girls woke up about 3:30 and I put a "flashlight" that clips to your hat (or whatever) in their room set on the red setting.  I also put one in the boys' room.  The power didn't come on again until about 8:00.  Now our answering machine doesn't work :(

Happy Father's Day

From the boys

From Emily

From Sarah (a coupon book)

Group hug ☺

Sarah Broke Her Arm (again)

I was just getting dinner on the table Tuesday evening when Sarah was going around the corner, tripped on the cord to the fan and did a flying dive/fall onto the floor.  I rushed over and saw that her arm didn't look right and sort of freaked out!  I said, "It's broken, it's broken!" as I backed away and Dan came in.  By then, Sarah had pulled her arm into a more normal position.  We got the kids packed up and rushed to the ER.  They did x-rays and sent us to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital since they don't deal with that type of break.  We got to Helen DeVos about 9:00 and they took her to surgery for a "closed reduction" where they put 2 pins through her bones to hold them in place.  We got to her room about 11:00 pm.  Praise God that it happened on the 1st of Dan's days off and that my parents hadn't yet left for their trip to the U.P. (for those of you not in Michigan, that would be the Upper Peninsula) so they could watch the other 3 kids. 

You can see her elbow doesn't look exactly normal

Splinted for the trip to Helon DeVos Children's hospital

Waiting Area at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital

Sarah after the surgery

Sarah with her blue cast with sparkly glitter

Sarah hanging out waiting to be discharged

Sarah's "throne" since she got home

Emily Learns to Tat!

So after Sarah learned to tat, Emily wanted to learn also.  I dug out 4 shuttles and 2 colors of size 10 thread and got the 2 girls both set up to tat.  Emily isn't quite as smooth as Sarah was after 30 minutes of practice, but she is only 6, also.  Sarah also has learned to knit before tatting, so that may have helped her as well.

And the Garden Is In!

I took pictures of my garden all last summer, and never posted ANY pictures!  So I want to be sure to post them this year!  My rototiller has been out of commission the last 2 years.  The first year, I planted a couple tomato plants and a couple pepper plants.  Last year, I still wanted a full garden, so I hand turned it all (in 80°+ temperatures!).  This year, we found out a friend from church would be able to fix it, so we hired him to do it and he had it fixed in 2 hours!  Dan tilled the dirt this afternoon and the boys and I planted the plants after dinner.

The garden area after we burnt the branches that were piled on it

Dan tilling the soil

We rescued a toad from the tiller

All done ☺

Bed 1, front to back: Blank area for the kids to dig in, cucumbers, heritage seeds from reenactment, watermelon

Bed 2, front to back: carrots, beans, yellow squash, corn, cantelope, sunflowers

Bed 3, front to back: tomatoes, bell peppers, pumpkin, onions, potatoes, zuchini

My sprinkler has some issues!