before the storm.

The pictures for this post would of had a different title, except it stormed last night and ripped my poor yard apart. We went outside the other night after dinner and fought through the heat and mosquitos to really enjoy the evening. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately, so I took my camera out and snapped away. It felt so good. I miss it.

(I didn't realize the slide was so close to the trash can. Oops. At least it was mostly empty).

Hank was there too, just hiding behind mama.

These pictures make me happy. It was a good evening. But that trash can that snuck into the picture and those tall, beautiful sunflowers? Knocked over. The corn Penny planted in the front yard was leveled too. The slide? Slammed into my new car. Yes, a new car! (A Mazda 5 that I really love. Enough room to grow it but still feels like a car and not a dreaded mini van).

Luckily the slide didn't do any damage to the car. It just looks really messy outside. My garden in the back might be a goner. A piece of siding fell off the house on to my herb but they're fine. The corn/lettuce/squash is just flattened. I'm hoping my zucchini will bounce back, it looks the best of all, but the corn is just broken. I don't remember it ever storming that bad in the summer. I'm the only one of my friends/family with power that I know of, and for that I am so thankful. I will take pictures of the aftermath today to compare. 

Now I'm off to finish sewing the blanket I started for Hank awhile ago. I can never finish these kinds of projects before my kids are born. Yet, they do get done eventually. 

welcome, summer.

I'm just now realizing this blog has been collecting dust since April. What in the world happened? It doesn't feel like it's been that long.

We are now deep into summer here in Oklahoma. Hot days with thick, humid air. It's not pretty. I took the kids to my grandparents house yesterday and we arrived as a big, sweaty mess. And yes, my car does have air conditioning. And the drive was only 2.5 miles. But the heat is so oppressive, you just can't escape it. It cools down some in the evening, but the mosquitos come out in droves. It's cruel.

We've still been having fun this summer. My mom bought a swing set for her yard and had Bruce and his dad put it together. That was almost a disaster, but it finally got put together and someone is pretty happy about it. (Note to everyone: don't try to put together a swing set in 100 degree heat or have your father-in-law help if he is anti-instructions. It's ugly). We've been to the aquarium, on movie dates, and spent plenty of time exploring on the slightly cooler days. 

We've also been dreaming a lot. When a dream hits me, it sucks out all of my energy until I feed it. We're making changes to plan for the future we want, we've had multiple nights of staying up until 4am talking it out. I can't explain the feeling of your spouse supporting your dreams, and you theirs, but it really is an incredible feeling. I hope the next few months unfold how we are hoping (and working oh so hard to make possible).